Interview with Nigel Bird

This week’s guest is the incomparable Nigel Bird whose story Sing a Song of Sixpence appears in the newly released anthology, Grimm Tales.

THE HARD-NOSED SLEUTH: What attracted you to the challenge?

NIGEL BIRD: I’ve always been a firm believer in the fairytale as a way for children to engage with stories and with nascent fears. The older stories are an amazing mix of excitement and darkness, drawing in the listener like the characters are drawn in to their own personal journey through dreams and nightmares.

There’s also such a lot of moral ambiguity to work with. Rumplestiltskin does everything he should to get the baby to the point of saving a life, yet he’s denied by a mother who’s married the man who imprisoned her and threatened her with death, a greedy despot with few redeeming features. How the hell does that make any sense?

I also love the random acts which take place. Take the soldier in the Tinder Box. He retrieves the box, comes out from beneath the tree and slices off the old woman’s head.

It’s perfect for the re-enactment by crime-writers.

HNS: We've all taken dark and twisted turns on these already dark and twisted tales. You, however, worked human trafficking into ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’. What triggered that???

NB: Maybe it’s because I find fairytales almost perfect already that I decided to go for a nursery rhyme instead. This was the one that popped into my head first.

The structure was easy once I decided that I’d need to quote the rhyme for those who didn’t know it – without it, I wasn’t sure it made sense.

Human trafficking? Liverpool has strong associations with the shameful slave-trade. It’s one of those things that stuck with me since I first heard about it, the injustice and the economic driving force behind it all. It’s something that was around in the North West of England where I grew up, the centre of the industrial revolution, a success story built on the backs of slaves from Africa and from rural Britain.

Black birds became African women (is bird also an unpleasant slang term for a woman in the US?), hence the easy switch to human-trafficking.

And as with many of my pieces, once it took off it found its own direction.

I read the other entries at the time and was bowled over by the standard. Putting out an anthology was a great idea and it will entertain anyone who dares to take the plunge. Just follow this trail of breadcrumbs. . . . . . . . . . ....

HNS: I think you had a pretty good 2011. What's next?

NB: 2011 was a great year. I think it had to be to top 2010.
The truth is that most of what happened in 2011 was unplanned. The only thing I intended to do was to put out ‘Dirty Old Town’ and to complete a novel. Everything else came about through some combination of happy accident and obsessive impulses. ‘Pulp Ink’ was great fun and a lot of hard work and ‘Smoke’ was sent to Trestle when they asked if I had anything ready (it had been on my computer for a year as I wasn’t sure people would like it, then it had five top-five read picks of the year. Imagine that).
This year I have less planned and will wait and see how things to.
The novel I finished last year is out for consideration. I’m pretty sure that it will come out this year in some form.
I intend to write another novel based on a number of thoughts I’d like to mix into a cocktail. That won’t begin until February.
Recently I wrote a short story along with Chris Rhatigan and I’m in the middle of another which I hope will polish up well enough to get into the Lost Children anthology in the summer.
If these things come off, I’ll be delighted. I’m also hoping for a few short stories to pop into my head, so keep the competitions and projects coming folks.

HNS: Thank you, Mr. Bird!

Author B. Nagel

This week’s special guest is the author B. Nagel. He lives in Mississippi with his wife and daughter. He works in a library, loves cheese toast and writes magical realism, but also surrealism and sometimes simply Southern, which, in all honesty, can be a bit of both. His story, Interview with a Pram Driver, appears in the just released crime anthology, GRIMM TALES. These are stories based on nursery rhymes and bedtime stories.

HARD NOSED SLEUTH : I love interrogation scenes and cross examining moments in courtroom dramas. What drove you to take this slant with your adaptation?

BNAGEL: A lot of fairy tale stories already exist as crime fiction (Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Tinderbox). And I saw a lot of opportunity for working inside these and others. But what really caught my attention was the opportunity to work outside of the narrative-proper, to look into the ramifications of Fey colliding with the mundane, to watch how the people left behind cope, or don't.

And what becomes of the nursemaid when a child is snatched by the elves, or the mother who wakes to find a stone-cold changeling in her bassinet? Naturally, the police are called in and they have questions which must be answered.

HNS: You mention you stepped away from the Brothers Grimm to find your story. Where did you get it?

BN: Before John put out the call for these criminal adaptations, I was already poring over the Grimm stories , trying to get under the skin of Rumpelstiltskin for a separate project. I wanted to step away from the marchen while staying within the realms of what we consider fairy tale.

Where I wound up was Peter Pan with some influence from the movie ‘Hook’ and a bit of ‘Law & Order: UK’ albeit with a late Victorian flair.

HNS: I ask this of all first time interviewees: When did you know you had to write?

BN: In middle school, one of my sister's friends asked me to write a story about whatever I wanted, anything at all. I didn't get down a single word. In college, I struggled to write five-page papers on topics I adored. But I've always written poetry, always loved the way a single word -that right word- can zap you out of your chair.

When did I know that I had to write? When I decided to get better at storytelling, because the only way to improve is to try.

HNS: Thanks, Mr. Nagel!

Grimm Tales can be found at Untreed Reads.

REMINDER: Flash Jab Fiction Challenge #9: Blood on the Door is open for stories.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Monkey See, Monkey Murder is now on the cyber shelves! Would really dig it if you read it and gave it a thumbs up review!

New Release

Pretty intense cover, isn't it?

COLT BUCHANAN AND THE WEATHER WALKERS is the first in what I hope will be a series of steampunk westerns centered around a young character named Colt Buchanan.

Synopsis:

Colt Buchanan hasn't quite figured out that he is the son of two of the country's greatest tinkerers and thinkers but that is all about to change. In the wake of a devastating attack by a gang of tornado riding outlaws known as the Weather Walkers, Colt wakes to find his home destroyed and his parents missing. Alone in the northwestern wilderness, Colt clings to the memories of his mother and father, recalling the stories his father told him as he clutches his mother’s handmade pillow for comfort.

Into his life comes a mysterious man who explains to Colt that places like Fort Discovery and the Institute for Reformed Science are as real as real as Colt himself. Colt had always thought they were just bedtime stories his father told him. Soon enough Colt will meet mechanical men and the scientists who invent them, including the top tinkerer himself, Dr. Elkin Wanderer. It won't be easy; Colt will have to survive a wild ride through the clouds when the Weather Walkers ambush him on his journey.

It will take some time for Colt to adjust to the new world of contraptions. Once he does, he and his band of confederates will have to work together to fend off one last big attack from the Weather Walkers who want nothing more than to destroy Fort Discovery and the man who built it.

The book should launch soon.

UPDATE: Colt has launched! Here is the Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/7zq6blb

Grimm Tales

From the Untreed Reads description:

Grimm Tales is a collection of stories by some of the top names in online crime fiction, all based on classic fairy tales. As novelist Ken Bruen writes in his introduction, "Ever imagined what would have come down the dark pike if The Brothers Grimm were more Brothers Coen and wrote mystery?" The collection is edited by John Kenyon, editor of Grift magazine, and contains 17 stories by Patricia Abbott, Absolutely*Kate, Jack Bates, Eric Beetner, Nigel Bird, Loren Eaton, Kaye George, Blu Gilliand, Seana Graham, Eirik Gumeny, R.L. Kelstrom, John Kenyon, BV Lawson, Evan Lewis, B. Nagel, Sean Patrick Reardon and Sandra Seamans.

From me:

As a struggling writer, this is huge for me. I'm in with some of the best crime fiction writers around today. I can't thank John Kenyon enough for including my story, The Flying Trunk. I keep looking at the list of names and it still seems unreal that I'm in it.

And the fact that Ken Bruen called my piece a gem, well, baby, hit me with those brass knuckles one more time.

Micro Interview: PATTI ABBOTT

This month’s guest is none other than Patti Abbott. She has been a recipient of a Derringer Award, edited several anthologies, and writes some of the hardest-hitting crime fiction around. She also maintains a popular blog for writers and readers at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/. Here latest release is Monkey Justice, an anthology of her stories.

HARD-NOSED SLEUTH: Give us a little background on your latest release of Monkey Justice.

PATTI ABBOTT: Monkey Justice includes about 25 of my stories from various zines, anthologies, and print publications. That's roughly 1/3 of my published stories. I had never considered publishing them until Brian Lindenmuth, from the newly formed SNUBNOSE PRESS and SPINETINGLER ZINE, emailed me and asked me if I'd be interested in collecting them for one of their first anthologies. Usually a collection of stories come after a published novel. But with the way ebooks can target a smaller audience than a print book and still have some success, it made sense. All the stories I chose are crime-related, but not particularly violent. Brian allowed me to choose whatever stories I wanted for the collection. A few stories I would have liked to have included were under copyright still or had not appeared in publications yet. I also tried to vary the places they were published, the age of the protagonist, the setting. Maybe I will get to include the others in another collection at some point. I am very grateful for the folks who have blogged about the collection, written amazon reviews, or bought the ebook. It is extremely hard to know how to publicize it and I now appreciate why facebook is mostly people pitching their wares.

BK: When I started my journey as an English major at Oakland University, I dreamed of having a seat at the Algonquin Round Table. A few years ago on a trip to New York I even hunted down the famed hotel just to sit at the bar and take a look in the room where the table sat. You run, what I think, is one of the more popular blogs for writers and I often see/hear a lot of advice and suggestions on it. How do you think social media/ blogs/groups help us as writers in that tradition of open dialogue?

PA: Ha! I have stayed at the Algonquin Hotel on a few occasions and sat in that room. It is magical, isn't it? I do try to run my blog for readers, writers and people who like to discuss various things. Initially, it was almost all about writing. But over time, more and more people who commented did not write and wanted to talk about books, movies, TV. I expected Friday's Forgotten Books to last about two months and we are headed for four years. A few people have written a book review every week over that time. I also add topics like HOW I CAME TO WRITE THIS BOOK or STORY. I also issue challenges to write flash fiction based on some theme about twice a year.

I write about movies a lot. Some things I eliminated. I stopped talking about politics because it attracted some argumentative people. I try to make my blog personal without talking too much about my family. I also very rarely review a new book despite continuous attempts by publicists to do that. I could never give a book a bad review and consequently my reviews would be meaningless. I invite any writer of a book, not self-published, to come on and talk about their book though. Some take me up on it and some just don't have the time.

BK: I ask this of everyone I interview. When did you know you just had to write?

PA: This is an interesting question. I have always written in some fashion. But I lacked confidence until I took a poetry workshop because another class didn't carry when I returned to school. That was in the mid-nineties when I was over forty. The instructor encouraged me to the point I submitted some poetry, got it published, and finally had a poetry chapbook published. But I was a lousy poet because all I did was to tell a story in the form of a poem. So eventually I came to stories and took four writing workshops where a marvelous teacher, Chris Leland, encouraged me even more.

So I have always known I wanted to write but only acted on it after forty. And I was almost fifty before I began writing stories.

How's that Jack?

BK: That was absolutely wonderful, Patti. Thank you for the interview.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Pulp Metal Magazine will run my short, ‘The Dog That Shat against the Wall’. No firm date yet.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER NEXT: Untreed Reads will be releasing two of my pieces in the coming weeks. Monkey See, Monkey Murder is a novella introducing Detroit’s PI to the stars, Hack Ward. The Flying Box will be a part of the Grimm Tales anthology. Look for both to launch soon. By the way, Patti Abbott also has a story in it.

FLASH JAB CHALLENGE #8: Still waiting for responses. Fire up those keyboards or set those pencils afire! Flash Jab Fiction wants your stories! http://tinyurl.com/7lejhhh

CHANNEL WRITES: WHITECHAPEL

If you’re in the states and aren’t looking forward to parades and football on the tube this Thanksgiving, let me suggest catching the first season of WHITECHAPEL on BBC America On-Demand. What does it bring to the table that you haven’t sampled before? A heapin’-helpin’ of freshness that examines what is probably the most notorious serial killer crime fiction aficionados like me still like to explore: Jack the Ripper.
Now there’s a holiday treat to whet the appetite of the most seasoned viewers of dark dramas.
Set in modern day London, a new series of Ripper copy-cat murders begins to plague the beleaguered detectives of the Whitechapel district. There is the requisite denial of a theory presented by a Ripperologist, played with a creepy and yet heartwarming temerity by Steve Pemberton, until newly appointed golden-boy DI Chandler begins to listen more closely to the theory. Embroiled with his own subplot, Chandler must develop the theory while trying to establish himself in front of his men. Pretty hard for a detective who was textbook trained at solving crimes instead of being out in the fields like his seasoned detectives. Nowhere is this more apparent then when Chandler and his Detective Sergeant view the first victim. Neither man can conceal his poker face. Chandler is completely repulsed when he stares at the body as much as his DS is repulsed at his boss’s reaction.
Okay- pretty standard fare at this point, I agree. So now check out the cinematography. Quirky, dark, electric, as much so as the rest of the post-production work. On a degree of difficulty scale, the technical team of WHITECHAPEL scores 10.0. The editing is frantic at times, intentionally so, to put the viewer on the edge of his or her seat. This is good old fashion, late night, lights off, scare the ju-ju-bees out of you entertainment.
Last thing I’ll say is the dynamic between seasoned Detective Sergeant Miles (Philip Davis) and rookie Detective Inspector Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) is one of those love-hate-can’t-do-my-job-without-you-doing-yours-eventually-I-will-trust-you kinds of relationships. At times it’s awkward, even bordering on violent, but eventually becomes a partnership that will make these two like Holmes and Watson, McGarret and Dano, Bond and Q.
BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Monkey See, Monkey Murder just wrapped its final line edits. Untreed Reads should be releasing it before Christmas. Just in time for the electronic shopping days.
COMING UP NEXT: Flash Jab Challenge #8 is up at Flash Jab Fiction. You’ve got the time. Start doing some writing. Check it out: http://flashjab.blogspot.com/

An Interview with an Author: Keith Gilman- Cop and Writer

This month I spend some time talking to Philadelphia police officer Keith Gilman and discuss his latest work, My Brother’s Keeper.

Keith Gilman has been a police officer in the Philadelphia area for close to twenty years and his writing reflects that experience on many levels. He believes that cops have important stories to tell, stories that need to be told and deserve a strong voice. My Brother's Keeper is the second book in his detective series. The publisher is Severn House. His debut novel, Father's Day, won the Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel Award and is now available in paperback. He's also had numerous short stories published in a variety of crime fiction magazines both on the web and in print. Most recently, his story Devil's Pocket, featured in the anthology Philadelphia Noir from Akashic Books, was nominated for a Macavity Award.

Visit the author at http://www.keithgilman.com/

HARD-NOSED SLEUTH: Let's start by talking about how the two worlds of being a police officer in Philadelphia and being a writer in Philadelphia converge. How much of what you write is based on actual experiences?

Keith Gilman: Readers want to know what cops know. And what cops know best is Death. They've grown accustomed to its face. They've come to recognize it in all its forms. They know it for what it is, without the glamour or the superstition. They can often see it coming. They've seen its aftermath. They've boiled it down to its most common denominators. It is the thing they are most qualified to talk about and write about.

There's a story of a rookie cop, still in the police academy, who asks a question of one of his instructors, a grizzled, old, veteran homicide detective. He wants to know how to be sure someone is dead, how to recognize it. He already knows the physical characteristics. If there's no breathing and no pulse, the person is technically dead. But is there something else he should be looking for?

The grizzled cop says only this, "Dead is dead, son. You'll know it when you see it." It didn't really answer his question but it was an answer that said something about the grizzled old cop, about where he's coming from. In My Brother's Keeper, we get to view the world through the eyes of that cop, who's seen it all and done it all. He walks the walk and he talks the talk and he pulls back the curtain on the dark stage of humanity and its crimes.

HNS: I know I get irked when I'm reading or watching stories about education and the narrative jumps the shark. Believe it or not, there are aspects of Glee that are dead on, unlike Boston Public that threw the most outlandish plots against the wall to see what would stick. Do you ever find yourself in a similar position with TV, movies, or books that have clearly not been written by someone in law enforcement?

KG: What I'm looking for in fiction is a well-told story, with vision and insight and characters that come to life. Pure realism is relatively easy to replicate. But poetic realism needs to be molded as a lump of clay into a sculpture, it needs to be drawn as a painting might. It is not merely a mirror held up to the world, though it is our eyes that must gaze into that mirror. It's a singular vision. I'd like to think that in My Brother's Keeper you'll find that singular vision and that quality of poetic realism, along with moments of extreme violence that remind the reader that this is a story of pain and death as well as redemption.

My writing style is consistently atmospheric, gritty, lyrical and haunting. The narrative contains stark imagery, strong noir elements, multiple layers of meaning and psychological depth. The setting of My Brother's Keeper is the urban landscape of Philadelphia, and there we delve not just into the soul of a city, but into the soul of a man.

HNS: I ask this of all the authors I interview, but when did you recognize your gift/desire for writing?

KG: I always had a pretty good jump shot. Other than that, writing was only thing I was relatively competent at.

HNS: Thanks, Keith!

MY BROTHER'S KEEPER is a detective novel set in Philadelphia, about a down-and-out, ex-Philly cop trying to put to rest the ghosts that still haunt him from his days on the street. A woman from his past returns. His old partner is killed. There's a psycho-sexual murderer loose on the streets of Philadelphia. Death is everywhere and he's learned to live with it, until it ends up on his doorstep.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Heard from John Kenyon today that the anthology GRIMM TALES, could be released this month. The stories in the book re-imagine classic tales of the brothers Grimm. It includes selections by Patti Abbott, Nigel Bird, Eric Beetner, and me!