portobello this weekend – come!

Aye so, this weekend is the Portobello Book Festival , my local literary shindig! Now in its third year, it’s got a pretty great line up, and you can check out the entire programme here. Janice Galloway and Candia McWilliam, people, what’s not to like!

I’m doing a couple of things. On the Friday night I’m one of many musicians performing at Porty Town Hall to launch the whole thing, then on Saturday at 6pm I’m chatting to Allan Guthrie (A fellow Porty resident) about Smokeheads et al in The Dalriada on the prom, which looks like this:

That event is followed by a FREE whisky tasting organised by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, so none of yer cooking drams, likes. Then after that there’s a literary pub quiz, where my lack of book knowledge will be cruelly exposed.

Do please come along, and check out all the events over the weekend, there’s bound to be something you fancy. All the organisers are volunteers, and it’s great the effort they’re putting into the local community – go Porty!

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achtung – cover for german edition of smokeheads

Ach, so here is the cover that BTB have knocked together for the publication in Germany next summer of Smokeheads. Or as it’s known in Germany, erm, Smokeheads. Cos they couldn’t think of a decent translation of the title, presumably.

Anyway, nice bit of broken bottle action. I like. More importantly, what do YOU think?

I presume the wee strapline is more or less the same as the UK version. Sounds more menacing in German though, somehow.

This is my first book to come out in a foreign language, and I’m ferking excited about it, so I am. Here’s hoping it flies like a little German bird through the skies over the black forest, and doesn’t get shot down by any sniping German critics. Kind of thing.

Auf Wiedersehen, meine freunde!

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the ossians dissected at the crime of it all

Just when you think The Ossians has vanished, up it pops again, with a big review over at The Crime of it All, courtesy of Evan Dempsey.


Tell you what about Len Wanner’s website and the guys he’s got writing for him – you might not agree with everything they say about your book (and I don’t), but there’s no doubting they really fucking properly, deeply engage with the text in a way that mainstream paper reviews just never do.

So there. I disagree with some of it, but I appreciate the dedication, so I do. And for what it’s worth, I think I agree with Dempsey about the slow start to the book, but then I wrote it fucking years ago when I had no fucking clue about anything. Man, he should’ve read the first draft, it was waaaaaaay slower. And shitter.

There yeh go.

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next novel cover revealed

Aye so, I got the Faber spring catalogue in the post today, which has my next novel listed in it. Yay! Seems like as good a time as any to post a picture of the cover, eh? So here it is:

Wotcha think? The one in the catalogue is an older version with a slightly changed strapline, but I prefer this one, likes. For those interested, here’s the blurb:

You hit someone. You run. But what if you have to go back?

Driving home from a party with his girlfriend and brother, all of them drunk and high on stolen pills, Billy Blackmore accidentally hits someone in the night. In a panic, they all decide to drive off.

But the next day Billy wakes to find he has to cover the story for the local paper. It turns out the dead man was Edinburgh’s biggest crime lord and, as Billy struggles with what he’s done, he is sucked into a nightmare of guilt, retribution and violence.

Drops on 1.3.12 – looking forward to it already, folks, spread the word!

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never apologise, never explain

So, following hot on the heels of Bookgeek’s amazing review of Smokeheads, there’s now a penetrating Q&A with me over on their website. In which I talk about my loft, strong female characters and the best writing advice I ever had (‘never apologise, never explain’). Enjoy, dudes and dudettes!

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@subtlemelodrama loves smokeheads

Another great review of Smokeheads has appeared from a clearly very erudite, intelligent and beautiful blogger, Bethany over at Subtle Melodrama – cheers Bethany!

Bethany reckons that ‘This would be an amazing film, if done properly.’ Even if done shitly, it would still be amazing for my bank balance, so let’s be hearing it, film producing fuckers. Eh?

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literary death match (note: may not contain actual death)

Soooo, I’m reading at a Literary Death Match. Look, there’s me scratching my head while thinking about it. While a small bird, maybe a sparrow, pecks at my earlobe.

If you don’t know what the crap a Literary Death Match is, well, here’s a wee video below:

Looks like a laugh, right? Right. Although, as you can see, there seems very little death involved, although I guess you never know.

I’m appearing alongside Sophie Cooke, Hal Duncan and Katerina Vasiliou, it’s all at the Voodoo Rooms next Tuesday 6th Sept, kicks off at 7pm. Come along and watch us get hilariously slated by three judges, whydontcha? Then there’s some final play-off thing which will undoubtedly be daft beyond words. And maybe deadly.

I do hope the crowd and judges aren’t expecting laughs – I don’t do laughs, at least not in my writing, at least not intentionally.

Should be good, looking forward to it.

Come, for the love of Christ, come!

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smokepackheadsmen – the aftermath


Aye so, had a great time at the Edinburgh International Book Festival last Friday – seems like ages ago already. Myself and Alan Bissett kicked out the jams in literary stylee, fielding such delightful questions as ‘what’s the most illegal thing you’ve done?’ and the like, and generally kicking the banter about like it was Piers Morgan’s head in a bag.

There are a number of blog-type reviews of the event, which is really very sweet. Imagine writing about little old us, eh? Anyway, if you want to read, they are at Manic Pop Thrills, The (Unofficial) Edinburgh Book Festival, The Scottish Review of Books and 12 Books in 12 months. Thanks to all bloggers out there for taking the time to come, enjoy and write, thanks to Peggy Hughes from the Scottish Poetry Library for being a great chair(person) and thanks to Mr Bissett for mentioning Weetabix. And thanks to Ali George at 12 Books in 12 Months – I’ve pinched your picture for this post, hope that’s OK?

More random pish soon, I bet.

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tom morton’s radio scotland show tomorrow

Aye so, I have the great pleasure of appearing on Tom Morton‘s radio show tomorrow (Thursday 25th Aug) on Radio Scotland. The show kicks off at 2.30pm, think I’m on about 3. Probably talking about the book and the music and all that shit. No doubt some nice whisky chat, given Tom’s love of the good stuff.

So, listen in live, see if I manage to do the show without swearing – should be fun. If you miss it, it’ll be on iplayer for a week, as per, I presume.

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allan guthrie’s thuggish thirteen

Well, I was extremely chuffed to appear in Allan Guthrie’s Thuggish Thirteen, a selection of ‘brit grit’ authors you should read, as part of Ashedit‘s ongoing British crime writing blog.

Some great writers in there, including some good friends, and I’m gonna have to get investigating the ones I haven’t read yet. Cheers for the shout out, Al!

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