June reading ... King, Ellory, Chaouki, Miller, Finder

I'm slipping up - only read 5 books this month. My excuse? The World Cup. Great, innit.

Anywho, here's what I read last month ...

Mr Mercedes – Stephen King

I just love me some Stephen King and yet again the man kept me enthralled while I was inside the pages of his mind. Here, he switches genre and we have a crime novel with a hugely engaging cast of (among others) a retired cop and his misfit friends.

Societal misfits are a strong part of the book and by having such character types at either side of the good versus evil divide, King provides a fascinating counterpoint.

And extra kudos to a man who has had such an extraordinarily successful and long career that he can reference his own work within the pages of a new novel. Yup. Loved it.

Carnival of Shadows by R J Ellory

The blurb goes  … It’s Kansas, 1959. A travelling carnival appears overnight in the small town of Seneca Falls, intriguing the townsfolk with acts of inexplicable magic and illusion. But when a man's body is discovered beneath the carousel, with no clue as to his identity, FBI Special Agent Michael Travis is sent to investigate.

And the scene is set for a book that tickles the intellect as well as your emotions. Again, a fascinating mix of oddball characters with a strong sense of time and place that Ellory combines with themes of trust, belief and the common man versus governmental forces to wonderful effect. 

The Star of Algiers by Aziz Chouaki

Moussa Massy dreams of being a star. A Kabyle singer in 1990s Algiers, Massy engages his audiences with a fusion of Arab and African melodies with American pop music. At 36, he desperately wants to marry his long-term fiancée and escape from the tiny apartment he shares with thirteen other members of his family.

He's signed by one of the hottest nightclubs in town and his dreams appear to be coming true. But this is short-lived: when the fundamentalist Islamic group FIS is elected to power, the city is enflamed with corruption and violence. As he fights to save his dreams in a society steeped in fanaticism, Massy’s passion for music turns to rage.

In animated, clipped prose, The Star of Algiers portrays the difficult truths of a country in persistent turmoil and vividly shows the aptitude for despair and loathing of those who have nothing left to lose. 

Powerful and thought-provoking, particularly when given that this book was published 12 years ago, and when daily news bulletins remind us that little has changed – and we see the rise and rise of fundamentalism.

Suspicion – Joseph Finder

Danny's teenage daughter Abby is the light of his life. Her mother died last year, and he is desperate to keep everything as normal as possible. But the situation is bad. Danny can't afford the private school Abby adores, and he can't bear to tell his daughter he has failed her.

By a stroke of luck, Danny meets Thomas Galvin, the father of his daughter's best friend and one of the richest men in Boston. But when Danny accepts a loan from him, the authorities turn up at his door. Now he has a choice. Face prison, or become part of a sting operation to bring down his new best friend – and one of the most dangerous men in the country.

A rollercoaster (excuse the cliché) wrapped up in the form of a book – this is a great ride – an ordinary guy in an impossible situation which has you constantly asking – what would I do? Perfect holiday reading

The Falcon Throne – Karen Miller (release date 9 September ’14)

I do love me some epic fantasy and as a long-time fan of Karen Miller I was keen to see what she would be up to next and boy has she come up with another cracker.

Want warring families, loveable, but flawed heroes and villains you will love to hate? Enjoy a plot with more twists and turns than a Tour De France stage? (Sorry. It’s on the TV as I write this.) Form an orderly queue here.

My only quibble is that there was some skimming, but this was a proof and hopefully will be tightened up before publication. Nonetheless, that didn’t distract from what was  essentially great fun and a cracking read.

That's what I read this month - what have you been reading? 

Book or Movie???

(Denzel Washington and whatsisname in Cry Freedom)

For me the book will always win in a competition against the movie.  The total immersion of the book – getting right inside the characters’ mind makes the book a winner for me every time.

There are occasions, however when it is a close run thing.

Here’s my top ten... in no particular order, cos I can’t be arsed putting them in any particular order...

Shawshank Redemption – Morgan Freeman and that other guy give great performances in the famous jail drama.

Cry Freedom – first time I remember seeing Denzel Washington in a movie. Impressive South African accent, DenZEL. The movie was based on the books Biko and Asking For Trouble by journalist, Donald Woods which highlighted the plight of Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid activist. Directed by Richard Attenborough.  Important piece of film-making from Dickie.

Schindler’s List – Ralph Fiennes was utterly convincing in this. Think if I’d seen him in the street afterwards I’ve have been on the phone to the Nazi hunters.

No Country for Old Men – loved the book, loved the movie. Watched the movie first. Perhaps that’s where the trick in this book versus movie thing lies. If I read the book first, the movie is usually a letdown.

Lord of the Rings – see above and this is the exception ‘cos I read the book sooooooo long ago, as a teenager. And Peter Jackson did an awesome job.

Trainspotting – gave the world smiley-fella, Ewan MacGregor.

The Silence of the Lambs – and the serial killer franchise really took off. Harris has a lot to answer for.Think I preferred the book, Red Dragon.

L.A. Confidential – a classic. ‘Nuff said.

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly – this is one where the movie actually enhanced the book. Yes, it can happen. If you don’t know the story, the author of this book was hit by an illness. All he could move was his eyelid. He worked out a sort of morse code and narrated this book by blinking to a friend. A reminder of how resilient and inspirational people can be when struck by tragedy. You've got to read/ see this.

Oh... and then there’s The Godfather, The Shining, The Green Mile, (maybe Stephen King should have his own list) The Prince of Tides, The Bourne  Series, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, In Cold Blood, Papillon, To Kill a Mockingbird, Winter's Bone ... awfurfecksake why did I start this?

Any faves of yours missing from here? Or are there any books you’d like to see being given the Hollywood treatment?

Starting Off

I think ever since I first held a book in my hand I wanted to produce one of my own. I didn’t know what kind of book it should be – just that it should be a book. I first had a go when I was around 10 years old. I wrote my version of Tarka the Otter and made a couple of my pals read it. The bribe as I remember was half a crunchie between them and my best marble. Mercifully I have forgotten their reactions and the actual story is somewhere in the cemetery of lost jotters.

When I was a teenager there were lots of movies about people falling in love and on the brink of death. All of these people were unfeasibly attractive and only days after the wedding ceremony one of the lovebirds would be run over and killed/ fall off a cliff and killed/ or suffer a dread disease and die a horrible but cinematically attractive death. This got me thinking. So aged 14 I wrote two chapters of a novel where somebody was diagnosed with leukaemia, fought it bravely, fell in love and while out walking with their lover fell off a cliff. And died. How pale and beautiful they would be in their death scene…

And then there were the early poems where everybody was in love or dying. Sometimes they managed both simultaneously. Having very little experience of the love side of things (for very little read none whatsoever) these poems were usually based on the lyrics of whatever pop group I was into at the time (mainly Earth, Wind and Fire). I console myself at the thought of my lack of originality by the idea that we learn best by imitating others. Perhaps my career might have had a better start if I had chosen to copy somebody like Bob Dylan or Lennon and McCartney.

Time, wearing great big hobnail boots and taking gigantic strides, moved on and I found myself in my early thirties remembering my early passion for the written word. “When I retire…” became a mantra for me, as in when I retire I’ll write a novel. Daydreaming was a favourite past time of mine around this time. Oh the novels and poems I penned in my head. And how publishers would fall over themselves for my books. When I retired. Then it occurred to me that I was wishing my life away. If I wanted to do it, I should just do it. See me and Nike? Where do you think they got their logo? I should sue someone.

Anyway, I did. I got on with it. The novels, of course. Litigation is such hard work and anyway, who would have believed me?

Then I spotted a poster for Ayr Writers’ Club and armed with the total output of 10,000 words of a novel and half a dozen poems I joined the club in 1996. That first night I was terrified. I expected everybody to be way too intelligent for me, so erudite that they’d have huge foreheads and they’d all be wearing cravats or bow ties. Even the women.

How refreshing it was to realise that they were all just ordinary folks like me, with the same artistic insecurities but armed with a world of experience that they were only too happy to share. Oh and I’ll always remember the time I met my first honesttogod published writer. I swear I was drooling.

So, I attended courses, workshops, read how to books, read lots of novels and poems – basically studied and learned as much as I possibly could about the craft of writing – a process that I hope never ends.

I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of the best pieces of advice I have received/ read over the years with you.

- Take yourself seriously as a writer, if you don’t no-one else will – Catherine Czerkawska.

- Read a lot, write a lot – Stephen King.

- Don’t give up your job and take a crap job thinking that you’ll have more time and energy to write, cos you’ll just end up skint and terminally worried about your finances – Sally Evans.

- Establish a regular work pattern and space – and stick to it – Hugh C Rae (Jessica Stirling).

- Just do it – Michael Nike Malone.