realthog

I've just heard that Requiems for the Departed, the Gerard Brennan and Mike Stone-edited anthology of crime stories of which I'm proud and honoured that my "The Life Business" is a part, has won the 2011 Spinetingler Award in (of course) the Best Anthology category.

In so doing, it beat out some pretty star-studded opposition -- among other nominees were Best American Noir of the Century edited by Otto Penzler and James Ellroy and First Thrills edited by Lee Child. My obvious suspicion is that the secret to its success lay in its having my own story last in the running order, so that readers had already decided to vote for the anthology by the time they got there.

Editors Gerard (gerardbrennan) and Mike (mylefteye) are both thrilled to bits with the award, as well they should be -- huge congratulations to them.

Current Music: Sterndale Bennett: Symphony op 43

Yes, all, there's a review by Declan Burke on prime-time radio of the Gerard Brennan/Mike Stone anthology Requiems for the Dead that you can listen to here -- in fact, I'm sure it'd be possible, were one technoliterate, to download the mp3 file so one could play it on multiple occasions, perhaps -- who knows? -- to one's party guests. To anyone with a loose wallet, anyway.

I'm far too modest to mention that, well on through, there's a "hat's off" to my own humble offering, "The Life Business", which is apparently a "terrific story" -- a point of critical evaluation that I've been repeating to Pam on occasion, sometimes even while asleep.

Talking of reviews that have made me more insufferable than usual, it's no accident that the Amazon.com review I cited the other day by John L. Murphy is a cut above the average: I've discovered from Mike Stone that it's a cross-posting from Murphy's excellent site Blogtrotter, which I strongly suggest you visit: lots of good stuff there.

Current Music: Debussy - Images Bks 1 & 2 (my Debussy for the year)

I mentioned a while back that editors Gerard Brennan (

gerardbrennan) and Mike Stone (

mylefteye) had accepted my "The Life Business" for their anthology of crime stories rooted in Irish mythology, The Red Hand of Crime, to be published by Morrigan next year. Well, I heard this morning from Mike that the list of contributors has now been released into the public sphere, and here it is:

Adrian McKinty
Arlene Hunt
Brian McGilloway
Dave Hutchinson
Garbhan Downey
Garry Kilworth
John Grant
John McAllister
Ken Bruen
Maxim Jakubowski
Neville Thompson
Sam Millar
Stuart Neville
T.A. Moore
Tony Bailie
Tony Black
Una McCormack

Needless to say, I'm chuffed as all get-out to find myself in such distinguished company. The only disadvantage of such a situation is, of course, that all the reviews will say, "This otherwise brilliant book is marred by one true stinker of a story . . ."

Current Music: Schnittke: Nagasaki

I was mighty pleased to hear this morning from Mike Stone (

mylefteye) that he and co-editor Gerard Brennan (

gerardbrennan) would like to include my 7700-word short story "The Life Business" in their forthcoming anthology The Red Hand of Crime.

The idea for the anthology is a fascinating one, which was what drew me to write something for submission in the first place: these are modern-day Irish crime stories (not just crime stories set in Ireland that could as well be set anywhere else) that have a thematic or other reference to Irish mythology or legend . . . which is, of course, not to say they're just modern re-enactments of ancient stories.

The myth I chose was St Patrick's ridding the island of serpents; other myths/legends/icons used apparently include Tir na nOg, the Bull of Cooley, Dairmuid and Grainne, the Salmon of Knowledge, the Red Hand of Ulster, King Lir, the Druids and Ogham script, the Banshee, and Queen Macha.

Contributors so far include people like Brian McGilloway, Garry Kilworth, Ken Bruen, Dave Hutchinson (

hutch0) and Adrian McKinty; you can understand why I'm so inordinately chuffed to be among their number! And also why I can't wait to get my hot little hands on a copy of the book . . .

So, that's: The Red Hand of Crime, edited by Gerard Brennan and Mike Stone, coming from Morrigan Books in late summer 2010.

Current Music: Bill McHenry Quintet live on NPR

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Entries tagged with gerard brennan

awards extravaganza

Requiems for the Departed reviewed -- audibly!

The Red Hand of Crime

sold: "The Life Business"

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