UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

Hi.

I don't think I've posted in this thread before. If I have, please put it down to a fading memory.

My first collection, Dirty Old Town (and other stories) was released almost a year ago now. It's had a great ride and I'm amazed at how well it's done ('A rare talent.' - Allan Guthrie 'A fantastic writer.' Donald Ray Pollock).

I've gone on to release two further collections ('Beat On The Brat' and 'With Love And Squalor').

My novella, 'Smoke' has been published by Trestle Press and is currently in the list of nominations for Best Novella Award over at Spinetingler (fingers crossed).

My stories have appeared in Mammoth's Best British Crime Stories 8 and 9; Speedloader; Off The Record; Grimm Tales; Brit Grit Too; Needle Magazine; The Reader; Crime-Factory; and Crimespree Magazine.

Along with Chris Rhatigan, I edited the anthology 'Pulp Ink' and am hopeful that there'll be some big things ahead for that one.

I've been lucky enough to win a few things here and there - 'The Watery Grave Invitational' 2010; Things I'd Rather Be Doing 'Fairytale Crime Competition' 2011 and Vintage Books Best Review Competition 2012.

Other than that, I'm a teacher of children with additional support needs in a Primary School.

I spend far too much time trying to promote myself and my books and tread a fine line between information and irritation at times (I do try to get it right, though).

Three young children keep me busy and wear me out; whatever else is happening in life, they come first.

A few links -

Dirty Old Town - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Town-Ot...

With Love And Squalor - http://www.amazon.co.uk/With-Love-And...

Smoke - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoke-ebook/d...

Best Novella Award Nominees - http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2012/0...

Thanks for telling us about your books Nigel. I enjoyed reading Jack And The Giant which the school children wrote. I've also got With Love and Squalor in my TBR list.

:0)

Hi Nigel.
I added your blog to your authors page. Have you thought about combining your profiles?

None of your books need saving though.

You may already have an author thread in our group, Nigel. I'll have a look tomorrow and if you do, we'll sort it, no worries.

I'm glad you've popped in and I hope you spend lots of time sharing silly with us. :)

If I do, Patti, could you bin the other one please? And sorry.

And 'combining profiles' sounds good, but it also sounds like Greek. If you can give me a clue, Louise, I'd be very grateful.

Time to go to bed.

Night all.

And happy rest-of-Burns-night.

Right!

1: go http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

2. scroll down to the bottom

3. See "Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Nigel to Goodreads. "

4. Click 'Let us know'

5. Follow directions :D

I totally wanted to translate this into greek but I can't be bothered to search for a translator xD

Thanks everso. And I even struggle in English, so I'm glad the Greek didn't happen.

Lol, I was tempted to do it in a few languages but I was so tired at that point you just got english!

So, I'm sharing a review today, from Darren Sant - he's a diamond of a writer,too.

'With Love and Squalor (http://www.amazon.co.uk/With-Love-And... )is a great introduction to the dark fictional world of Nigel Bird. The author’s fiction has featured in such places as The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime Volume 8, A Twist of Noir and Pulp Metal Magazine. This collection features stories from a range of these publications and serves to give the reader a good idea of what he’s about. This also includes a sample from Nigel’s novella, Smoke. Bird’s style is indefinable. He is drawn to the quirk and different aspects of life. He takes a sidelong view at things and then puts pen to paper.

Some tales like Fisher Of Men will leave you with more questions than answers. A Whole Lotta Rosie, I suspect inspired by the AC/DC song, had heart like much of Bird's fiction and a sad almost melancholic edge to it.

No Pain, No Gain took the interesting concept of siblings that can't feel pain and ran with it. Yet again we have the darker aspects but interwoven that sense of emotional depth that makes you care for the characters even in short fiction. This makes for compelling reading. He has that rare talent of great characterisation in a limited word count. This gives his stories more punch and an extra dimension.

If this is this first title of Nigel's that you read I have no doubt that you will explore more of his work.'

Thanks to DS.

I'm ecstatic. Today I got a page over at the publisher Blasted Heath, one of the big guys on the e-book block. They're going to publish my novella Smoke.

I can see for smiles.

http://blastedheath.com/?page_id=5639

Fantastic news, my friend. Much deserved. Proper made my night that has, Nigel :)

Thanks Ian.

And you're about to make mine as I read another couple of chapters of Abide With Me. I'm hoping to savour it over the weekend, for it is a book to be savoured like a fine wine (though I'd have drunk any fine wine out of the bottle).

Congrats Nigel :-)

Found this on my Facebook Nigel! Very cool!

http://blastedheath.com/?page_id=5639

Appreciate it!

:)

Well, Dirty Old Town (and other stories)has been in a great tournament to find the favourite Crime E-book and it's currently in the semi-finals. There are 4 books in there and they're all very worthy of attention.
If you're a fan of Dirty Old Town and feel like supporting, the link for your vote is:

http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2012/0...

Thanks,

:)

Defeated at the final 4 stage, I'd urge anyone who knows the books in the final to pop over and vote

They're at

http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2012/0...

The books concerned are both amazingly good - Ray Banks and Money Shot (Blasted Heath) and Patti Abbott's Monkey Justice (Snubnose), and if you don't know them, I'd recommend them hightly.

If you voted for me at any point, thanks for keeping me in there - much appreciated.

x

There's a story of mine that I sometimes forget exists, possibly because it's an existential romance rather than noir fiction.

Anyway, I do keep an eye on it when I remember to and am delighted to see that this morning it's back in the Waterstones Top Ten for ebook short-stories and the Top Fifty for romances.

It may well not be there for long, but it's a nice contrast to the 'tumblin-down-the-charts' Smoke, I can tell you.

:)

That's great news Nigel!

Hmm. I rather favoured 'Smoke'. Maybe my approval is a kiss-of-death? ;)

I don't think so, Ignite. It's just part of a natural curve (I hope). We'll see. The postcards for it arrived this morning - I always love postcards, if for no other reason than they're practical even if they don't sell books.

Oh you need to send one to Elle.

She collects postcards.

If you're tuning in, Elle, I can send a bundle of mint ones for your collection - I've got 6 or 7 different images now. Let me know.

Oh cool!

Tell her in the Morning! Thread too. I know she's busy studying but she usually finds time to pop in there quite frequently.

Hello.

It's raining outside, which is fitting for this one.

I have a new book out called 'The Rocks Below'. I'm struggling with the cover, so don't judge on that.

I'm on a tangent of sorts, mainly because it's the story that came to mind and I had to write it. My intention was to write an excting book with a little zip to it, whilst dripping in a strong environmental message (especially in regard to thinking about the proposed fracking at sites around the UK)- for that reason it's also written with young adults and older children as I'd like to sow a few seeds that might grow into creative thinking one day.

Here's the blurb:

'When Sam hears that the storms along Scotland's east coast, there's only one thing he wants to do - catch the surf. Missing out is not an option. Taking his board out to sea is full of risk.

The storms are even heavier than Sam expects and he doesn't escape unscathed. Nor do the local towns and beaches which are left battered, damaged and covered in the detritus of the sea, including some rather strange looking rocks the likes of which nobody has ever seen before.

It becomes clear that the local councils will need help in tidying up and the Surfers Against Sewage step forward to restore normality.

In the storm's aftermath, however, there are a series of unusual events.

First of all, there are the missing dogs, followed closely by the disappearence of some young children who were last seen playing on the sand. Not to mention the unusual noises that have been keeping people awake at night.

Talk on the streets of Dunbar is that it's Black Agnes returned to take revenge. Others fear environmental catastrophe. Still more cite ancient visions of the end of the world.

The Rocks Below is a tale suitable for adults, young adults and older children. It contains a subtle yet powerful message relating to environmental issues.

Fusing elements of crime fiction, science fiction and adventure stories, this is a book that entertains and stimulates thought in one exciting read.'

and here's the link - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Rocks-Bel...

Thanks.

Smoke is a book I'm very proud of. I'm also proud that it was published by Blasted Heath and that comment from Mr Rankin is the icing on the cake.
It's now available from Overdrive for libraries and I'd like to ask for your help. If you don't mind sparing 5 minutes and want to support, I'd be delighted if you could pop over to your virtual library and order a copy - they usually have suggestion forms. The ISBN is 9781908688293 and you will probably need that.
What I'm hoping is that your help will ensure that my publishers feel that their faith was justified. That and cash, I suppose.
If your library already has a copy (which is a little unlikely, but not impossible), I'd be most grateful if you would think about borrowing it.
Many thanks for thinking about it.

nigel

Wow, this thread seems all musty and dusty. My bad.

Anyway, I wanted to mention an event I'm hosting tonight. It'll be useless to you if you don't live close to Dunbar, but if you do you might be interested.

I have the honour of welcoming Allan Guthrie, Doug Johnstone and Ed James into town and would love to see you there. The topic relates to technology and its impact on publishing/writing, with particular thoughts on ebooks.

What we have in the lineup is a bit of everything - Amazon #1 bestseller (#1 as in top of all the kindle charts), agent (one of Jenny Brown's team), digital publisher (of Blasted Heath), an author who's followed the more traditional route, one who has self-published and one who has experience of both.

More about the event here http://dougjohnstone.wordpress.com/20...

If you make it along, come and say hi.

xx

I saw this advertised Nigel but sadly I'm doing something else tonight - I'm just along in North Berwick. Hope it goes well, sounds like a good evening!

Too far away to attend but not too far away to wish you all the best! Hope it goes swimmingly. :)

Nice to see Dylan Thomas up for the month's read. I'll have another look. I'm always curious about writers who drank hard and created gems. I was in New York recently and one of the things on my list was to visit some of his haunts, but the list was long and time was short and it didn't happen (here's hoping there'll be a next time).

I came along to mention a couple reads that blew me away. Willy Vlautin has done it again. The Motel Life just added to the sense I have that he's one of the best. It's not easy to work out why his work has such an impact on me, but the power created using simple language and no sense of writer trickery really warms my spirits. I'd like to recommend all of his novels even though I'm yet to read The Free (I'm saving that for a week or 2).
Also, still rattling around in my head is the book Gravesend. I do think it's going to end up as my favourite of the year - if there's another that comes along, then I'm a lucky man.
Also, check out the new Anthony Neil Smith called Once A Warrior and if you feel like snapping up a deal, Doug Johnstone's The Dead Beat has an offer price of 99p just now.

The event in Dunbar, by the way, was great. Shame there was virtually no one there to witness it - am still recovering. :(

Breaking recent silence to mention that my latest novel SOUTHSIDERS has just been released by Blasted Heath at the introductory price of 99p (which I believe will continue throughout November).

This is what you'll find:

Ray Spalding's had enough of his wife, Paula. He's left his home in Edinburgh's Southside and headed for Belfast. It's safer there.

Unknown to Ray, Paula's also had enough of him. She's not going back home. Not now, not ever.

Jesse Spalding wakes up one morning to find both his parents gone. And he can't tell anyone or he'll be taken into care.

As time passes and bills need paying, all Jesse can rely on are his wits, his friend Archie and his dad's 1950s record collection.

Southsiders is a powerful short novel that follows the spiralling fortunes of Ray and Jesse, pushing father and son to their limits while they struggle against the odds in the darker shadows of two of Britain's capital cities.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Southsiders-N...

Thanks,

nigel

I was very lucky to be asked to do an interview with Crime Fiction Lover. If you'd like to see it, here's the link: http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2014...

This post here http://nigelpbird.blogspot.co.uk/2014... relates to the Jack London programme I set up a thread for elsewhere. I felt it to be a little self-promotional to inflict on the general populace. Rather personal, too.

I have a new novel out today and it's called The Shallows

It's about a sailor going AWOL, taking his family with him and landing up in plenty of trouble.

The journey shifts from the middle of Scotland to Eyemouth, Berwick-Upon-Tweed and finally Grange-Over-Sands.

Got it, Nigel. It won't be on my To Read list for long.

Kath wrote: "Got it, Nigel. It won't be on my To Read list for long."

That's brilliant. Big thanks. x

Just passing on a link for my brother's latest. It's a Radio 4 look at The Wind In The Willows with Lauren Laverne. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071vlmg

This week, I published the third book in the Southsiders series, By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Books 1 and 2 were published by Blasted Heath and now they've folded I've simply put them out myself.

Here's the link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Southsiders-...

Thanks.

A couple of nice things.

First, I had an interview posted yesterday. Among other things, I talk about the novel I've just finished and the one I hope to start soon, as well as my new position as an editorial consultant for All Due Respect.

All three of the Southsiders books are free today. You can find them over at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Southsiders-...

If you have any questions about the interview, fire away.

Have a nice Sunday.

I have put the four Southsiders books together in one collection and it is on offer over this weekend for 99p.

Southsiders: The Collected Jesse Garon Novels

In a nutshell, 'Follow the adventures of the young Jesse Garon as he struggles to survive after being left home alone.'

And while I'm here, a plug for a programme that aired last Sunday on Radio 4. My brother put the piece together and it features a wonderful interview with Patrick Ness that's well worth a listen. Lauren Laverne does the honours. The link's here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09v0xhw

Thanks,

nigel

This year I'll be part of the Newcastle Noir festival that happens over the May bank holiday weekend. There's are some terrific authors taking part and they're coming from far and wide (I think New Zealand is probably the furthest point).

I've put up a post about it at my blog https://nigelpbird.blogspot.com/2019/... and point out some great things to do in Newcastle if you happen to come along.

Hope it goes well for you :-)

Jim wrote: "Hope it goes well for you :-)"

Many thanks. The main thing is I'll be talking writing and meeting great writers and that ranks among my favourite things.

yes it can be fun

Wasn't sure where to put this for the best result, but wanted to let you know that there's a free to enter competition to win weekend passes for Crimefest which takes place in Bristol between 9th and 12th May this year.

https://eurocrime.blogspot.com/2019/0...

Check out the Eurocrime link if you're interested. There's a link to the Crimefest site here - http://www.crimefest.com/ if you want to poke around.

Good luck.

A thanks to the folk at Book Trail for doing this (https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-tra...). I had no idea.

And, ps, I'll be appearing at Newcastle Noir on Sunday so come and say hi if you're there. The programme starts tomorrow and there's something there for all crime fans.

I've been busy promoting my new book and I'm thrilled to be over on Martin Edwards' blog, Do You Write Under Your Own Name? today http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blo...
thinking about the crime novel at Christmas.
Thanks for having me, sir.

Dropping in to announce the release of my latest, the follow up to Let It Snow, My Funny Valentine. You'll see the title connection, I'm sure, so if you fancy having a guess at the title of book 3 in the series, I can tell you that it's seven words long.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Funny-Valent...

The cover, by the way, may not be special, but it's a huge improvement on the first couple I was sent to consider.

Best wishes and hoping your health is good.

N

It's a great story, Nigel. Really enjoyed it. 😁

Kath wrote: "It's a great story, Nigel. Really enjoyed it. 😁"

Thanks ever so. :)