I’ve become slightly obsessed with William McIlvanney

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Yeah this guy, with the dashing moustache. Which, by the way, is a hard look to pull off, but pull it off he does, with aplomb. Aplomb, I tell you.

I was at Bloody Scotland recently. I missed William McIlvanney’s event, which I was pretty annoyed about. But all day, everyone was talking about him. I met an editor friend at Canongate, who are re-publishing McIlvanney’s backlist next year. Awesome.

Later, after a few beers, I stumbled into a conversation between Willie and Denise Mina, where Willie was explaining how he was barred from The Ubiquitous Chip, where Denise used to work. I’ve met Willie a few times before at events and so on, and I have a small connection to him, since he was at school with my dad at Kilmarnock Academy, then they both went to Glasgow uni studying English, then became English teachers.

Aaaaaanyway. William McIlvanney is one of the nicest, most humble and graceful and generous human beings I’ve ever met. With charisma and charm up the ying-yang.

So I’ve re-read Laidlaw in the last few days. I’d forgotten how amazing it is, on machismo, on Glasgow, on Scotland, on the human condition. And I’ve dug out my old copies of Tony Veitch, Walking Wounded, The Kiln, Docherty and The Big Man to re-read.

He really is a bit of a legend. That is all.

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And we’re off! Book six (or seven, depending) is go!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

OK, so the Facebook and Twitter tabs are removed from the bookmark bar, the walls are covered in notes, characters, scenes and pep talks and the kettle is on. I started writing book six today. Or book seven, if you count that big unpublished one in the drawer that I wrote between books two and three.

I’m not gonna bang on about progress as I go along, I get a little annoyed when writers do that, but I’ll just tease you by saying the working title is Dead Beat (and yes, I know that’s a Val McDermid book, but so what) and about an obituary writer. Written the opening miserable/angry graveyard scene already! Boof!

Right, as you were. Nothing to see round here for a few months.

Dx

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Books I reviewed in August (and some I didn’t manage to)

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Considering this is only mid-September, I’m not even all that late with this chat, which is unlike me these days. Didn’t review all that many in August, as I was away on holiday and all that jazz. In addition to the books below, I also read Easy Money (Macmillan) by Jens Lapidus, a kind of Swedish James Ellroy thing which was fucking amazing and definitely one of my favourite books of the year so far. It was a pretty great month, Winslow, Sullivan, Morrison and Niven were all absolute crackers. Track em down.

Aye so, reviewed this month:

John J Niven, Cold Hands (William Heinemann) – for Big Issue
Ewan Morrison, Close Your Eyes (Jonathan Cape) – for Big Issue
Toni Davidson, My Gun Was As Tall As Me (Freight Books) – for Scotland on Sunday
Don Winslow, Kings of Cool (William Heinemann) – for Independent on Sunday
John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead (Vintage) – for Big Issue, not online
Herman Koch, The Dinner (Atlantic) – for Big Issue, not online

And all the goddamn good-looking books I didn’t get a chance to read or review:

Louise Welsh, The Girl on the Stairs (John Murray)
Chris Ewan, Safe House (Faber)
Edited by John Connolly & Declan Burke, Books to Die For (Hodder)
James Meek, The Heart Broke In (Canongate)

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Bloody Scotland is happening this weekend!

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Aye so, excited that Scotland’s first ever crime writing festival – Bloody Scotland – is happening this weekend in Stirling. Click on the link above for all the details. I’m honoured to be taking part, with an event at 6.30pm on the Saturday evening alongside Craig Robertson, Gary Moffat and Karen Campbell. Click here for specific details. Hopefully see some of y’all down there, eh?

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Elsewhere = book porn

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

I’m not much of a book coveter, but I’m making an exception for this. My author copies of the Elsewhere box set came through the post yesterday, and they look, feel and smell gorgeous. If you don’t know, it’s a collection of 50 short stories by writers from around the world, commissioned last year by the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Congrats and thanks to all at Cargo Publishing, McSweeney’s and the Edinburgh International Book Festival for putting this fantastic project together. I’m off to sniff some hardbacks for a while.

A bientot! Dx

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Most in-depth review EVER

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Aye so, it’s not often that one of your books gets a proper, in-depth bit of engagement from a reviewer. But over at The Truth About Lies there is just such an instance where writer Jim Murdoch knocks his pan in delivering a 3,000 word treatise on my second book The Ossians. Cheers for the time and effort, Jim! If only all reviewers would give as much of a fuck, eh?

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10 Random Observations from the Edinburgh International Book Festival (So Far)

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

1. Jens Lapidus is not only a brilliant thriller writer, but a very lovely bloke.

2. The Elsewhere collection is a thing of real beauty.

3. Irvine Welsh is a sweetheart.

4. The staff get nicer and more helpful every year.

5. Ewan Morrison needs to get back on the booze, he has too much energy sober.

6. David Vann appears to have a really fucked up family.

7. It’s great to see a bookshop full of people buying books.

8. They still need to get beer in the yurt.

9. Literary Death Match organiser Todd Zuniga looks like Shelley Duvall (his words not mine, and he’s right).

10. The Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference is really not my cup of tea. Lots of self-important hot air, IMHO.

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Books I reviewed in June AND July (and some I didn’t manage to)

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Aye so, I’m waaaaay behind with these updates, but here’s a big old list of books I’ve reviewed in the last two months, and some I wanted to read but never managed to. Links to reviews where possible.

JUNE

Chris Brookmyre, When the Devil Drives (Little Brown) – for Scotland on Sunday
Harry Belafonte, My Song (Canongate) – for Big Issue
Andrew Blackwell, Visit Sunny Chernobyl (Random House) – for Big Issue
David Vann, Dirt (William Heinemann) – for Independent on Sunday
Bonnie Campbell, Once Upon A River (Fourth Estate) – for The Herald
Eric Berkowitz, Sex and Punishment (Telegram) – for Big Issue, not online
Robert MacFarlane, The Old Ways (Hamish Hamilton) – for Big Issue, not online

JULY

Cathi Unsworth, Weirdo (Serpent’s Tail) – for Independent on Sunday
Denise Mina, Gods and Beasts (Orion) – for Independent on Sunday
Kerry Hudson, Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma (Chatto & Windus) – for Big Issue, not online
Kirsty Gunn, The Big Music (Faber) – for The Edinburgh Review, not online
Julia Heaberlin, Playing Dead (Faber) – for Big Issue, not online
Sarah Moss, Names for the Sea (Granta) – for Big Issue
Steve Boggan, Follow the Money (Union Books) – for Big Issue

And all those bloody books that I haven’t had a chance to read yet:

Richard Ford, Canada (Bloomsbury)
Sjon, The Whispering Muse (Telegram)
H.J. Hampson, The Vanity Game (Blasted Heath)
Arnaldur Indridason, Black Skies (Harvill Secker)
Stuart Evers, If This Is Home (Picador)
Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Canongate)
Thomas Enger, Pierced (Faber)
Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Incident (Sceptre)
J.J. Connolly, Viva La Madness (Duckworth)
Jay Stringer, Old Gold (Thomas & Mercer)

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It’s all happening. Kind of.

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Folks,
Bits and bobs and odds and sods to tell you about, so let’s crack on:

1. Edinburgh Book Festival Event next week
I’m appearing with Jens Lapidus at Charlotte Square next Friday 17th August at 8.30pm. Just finished Jens’s novel Easy Money which totally blew me away – he’s a million-selling Swedish writer, also a celebrity, a defence lawyer and (one for the ladies) annoyingly handsome. Honoured to be sharing a stage, and looking forward to this event immensely. Details of tickets etc are here.

2. Bloody Scotland event next month
I’m absolutely delighted to be appearing at the inaugural Bloody Scotland – the country’s only crime writing festival, no less. It’s all in Stirling, and my event is being billed as ‘Bad Boys’ (presumably nothing to do with the Will Smith movie) alongside the excellent Craig Robertson and Gary Moffat. It’s Saturday 15th Sept, 6.30pm, and as everyone knows, Saturday’s night’s alright for fighting, so expect extreme violence. Probably. Details here.

3. Loads more events
St Andrews, Newcastle, Glenrothes, Stirling, Edinburgh all in the pipeline. Check dates here.

4. Tombstoning and The Ossians out now
Both my first two books have been given a new lease of life as Faber ebooks. Find out what Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Chris Brookmyre liked about em by clicking here.

5. Second Lives
Very proud to have a short story included in Second Lives, a joint book project between British and American writers. My story is called ‘I’m Yours To Knock Around’ and is as cheery as that sounds. Find out all about the book and the project here.

6. Elsewhere
Also thrilled to have a story, ‘Surtsey’, included in the Elsewhere project, a collaboration between the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Cargo Publishing and McSweeney’s. 50 writers with stories in four volumes of gorgeously designed booky goodness. Check out the whole thing here.

7. Smokeheads out in Germany
Those lovely people at my German publishers btb have now published Smokeheads, my first book in translation! I’m well excited. Here’s hoping it flies off the shelves over there, eh? It even has a glossary of whisky terms in the back of the book – aw, bless em. Check it out here, if you speak German.

8. Amazon #1 Bestseller Hit & Run still out there
Of course I couldn’t leave you without plugging this, could I? Click here for purchasery.

9. And announcing Gone Again
My next novel is called Gone Again and is coming out with Faber 7th March 2013. Got a rough cover, nothing final, but it’s looking amazing! I’ll be boring the teats off you about it in due course, but meantime, the blurb is already up on Amazon:

And that’ll do for now, eh? See you in Charlotte Square!

Doug x

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Fast-talking sweaty Scotsman talks shite shocker!

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Ha ha! Here is me, talking to Matt Thorne for a Fiction Uncovered thing. I’m talking fast, looking sweaty, and saying some pretty stupid things. All in all, a cracking success! Enjoy, if you can.

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