This month sees the re-publication of my second Royston Blake novel, Fags and Lager, under the new title of BOOZE AND BURN. I guess I will always think of it as Fags and Lager, but I don’t mind the new name. Especially since the word “fag” is now filtered out of work email and search engines all over the world, meaning I would miss out on a few mentions. Mind you, **** and Lager looks OK, doesn’t it? The first book in the series was called Deadfolk, and in that I wanted to depict a slightly delusional bouncer in his backwater stamping ground of Mangel… and no more than that. But when I started writing a sequel I knew that things had to change, just…

We get ourselves a good, nearly central position in the tent, not quite as good as for Anna Calvi earlier but probably at the edge of the moshing. This is where you want to be, so that you feel fully involved in the show, but don’t come out soaked in sweat and covered in random bruises. The four guys to our right get out see through plastic pac-a-macs and put them on. What?   These guys know the setlist and were here the night before. And they know that, any minute, the drinks are going to fly. The back of my head and cotton jacket get a good half pint during the first number. I wipe myself down with a hanky. Cider. And from then…

A very slightly extended version of my review for today’s Nottingham Post. On kd lang’s first visit to the Royal Concert Hall, nearly twenty years ago, the audience was dominated by screaming young women. Tonight the top tier is empty and there are notably more males, of the middle aged variety. The Canadian singer is touring with a permanent band who give her a more relaxed onstage presence. They launches into ‘I Confess’, followed by a boomy ‘Summer Fling’. The sound settles down for a delicate ‘Water’s Edge’. Then it’s a lovely ‘Miss Chatelaine’ from her breakthrough, still most successful album, ‘Ingenue’.  The intro is coquettish, her stage dancing joyful.  The title track of new album, ‘Sing It Loud’, is dedicated to ‘all the freaks.…

Yesterday, Amazon sent out an email to Kindle users that featured my Bone & Cane, a recent high climber on their charts, as the lead item. I’d heard that Amazon helped promote Kindle books that were doing well, but had forgotten until that email landed in my inbox. An hour later, the book had shot from number seven to number two. An hour after that, it was number one. Where it still is, with sales up 600% yesterday according to the Amazon ‘Movers and Shakers’ chart. This is my debut adult crime novel and my brilliant publishers, Tindal Street Press, are selling it at a special introductory rate in order to build an audience for the series it begins. I was very happy when it…

Great event at Antenna the other night, ‘Contact’, a Word Of Mouth evening organised by Robin Vaughan Williams featuring local writers alternating with international ones, skyping from all over the world. Well done to all involved. The evening concluded with Kelly Malone reading from New Zealand where, because of the international date line it was (almost) time for The Rapture. Here’s some video I shot of it, first with Sue Dymoke’s set. and here’s Kelly Finally, a couple of songs of the week and a little preview of the new Arctic Monkeys album. Oh, and if the world does end at 6pm tonight, thanks for tuning in, it’s been nice knowing you and here’s a couple more songs (No REM – too obvious). The Arctic…