Five For ?

Back in '09 I did a "five for" interview with Susan Tomaselli for 3am magazine. Well, now it's my turn to put five questions to an interviewee. Some of you may know him, some not, but you should all check this out. His name is Royston Blake and he is the former head doorman of Hoppers Wine Bar & Bistro.

Blakey gets a Brazillian

The very brave Paul Brazill has interviewed Royston Blake. Provocative questions and incisive answers, I think you will agree. check it out and join the campaign.

Brits, grits and shi...

...ny new things for you to read. Such as Royston Blake having a rant over at Alan Griffiths' Brit Grit blog. He's trying to get you supporting his Facebook campaign, and who am I to tell him nay? Who is anyone to tell him that? Oh yeah, Serpent's Tail... But they will relent. When the see the sheer power of the FREE THE MANGEL ONE campaign (erm, currently 103 members... we need you!) they will see the light and get publishing.

Me and my guest blogging turn

I've got a guest blog post over at Scott Pack's Me and My Big Mouth today, talking about Royston Blake, Wrongun and why I am trying to make Wrongun a reality by creating a Facebook campaign. Sounds a bit weird, me putting it like that. And it probably still sounds weird even after you've read the piece. But it's there all the same if you want some more skinny on why the book has not yet been published. Scott posts regularly on his blog so you should keep an eye on it (especially the fire station book swaps).

"If he dies, he dies"

I'm pleased to say Royston Blake's world tour continues with a Russian version of FAGS AND LAGER. I can't get enough of these Russian covers. I'm getting thirsty just looking at it. Goes nicely alongside it's sister.

In other news, the FREE THE MANGEL ONE Facebook campaign marches on. Please check it out and consider joining if you favour David against Goliath. Or Royston Blake against the powers that be.

FREE BLAKEY update

62 group members already. That is bloody amazing, and cheers to everyone who has joined the fold. Do you reckon we could make it a hundred before next week? If you want to help, check it here: FREE THE MANGEL ONE.

We have a figure, by the way. We have a goal to aim for... a theoretical number of group members before WRONGUN will be made a reality. That number is one hundred

thousand.

100,000

*Ahem*

FREE THE MANGEL ONE

Some people know I wrote a fourth Mangel/Royston Blake novel. Most people wouldn't even know there was a first, second and third, but I can't worry about them. I can only worry about the folks who liked one or more of the first three, and might be up for helping to turn a trilogy into a series. To be honest, I don't even worry about them, really. Why worry? But if you are a Blakey fan (or even even if you're not), please join this Facebook campaign.

In the era of Barack Obama, I believe that anything is possible. Which is why I think Royston Blake - a former nightclub bouncer with a history of mental problems - could become prime minister of... Oh, no, we're not trying to do that. All we're trying to do is get him back out there, in book form, doing what he does and kicking the shit.

Does this "campaign" have a goal, an attainable target? Hopefully it will soon. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile...

FREE THE MANGEL ONE

Frankly Mr Shankly, since you ask...

I have gone and let myself become blog-shy again. And there I was, getting into a good old groove with those typewriter cast thingies. But we move on, right? And we cannot let ourselves become slaves to technology... even technology that is older than we are. Plus I ran out of paper.

Been doing the usual stuff - writing a novel, a bit of reading, wondering what it would it would be like if you were an Olympic high jumper and you could actually fly... but you had to keep it a secret. A tricky balance, right? One air boost too far and Matthew Hopkins will be on your arse.

They have author pages on Amazon. I have populated mine with some stuff. Like it will generate any new readers. But hey, maybe it will?

I mentioned Harrogate, right? As in the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Fest thing they hold there. If you're going, my event will be "Putting the Boot In" on Saturday, 14th July, alongside Ray Banks, Craig Russell and moderated by Martyn Waites. We will be talking about kicking the shit out of people.

That is all. Stay cool and take it easy with those air boosts.