Smart New Me

The smart new me is now over at:

http://aliyawhiteley.wordpress.com/

Please come and have a look, and sign up for the RSS feed/email notifications so I can tell you all my news. There's a bit about the upcoming release of Mean Mode Median as an ebook via a very exciting new venture called Thirst eDitions, and a link to a new interview I gave to Smokelong Quarterly about my writing process.

The Helper

An anonymous caller is willing to give you clues that will help you solve a series of murders.

But there's a catch: You can't tell anyone about the help you're getting.

What do you do?

If you turn the offer down, you will have nothing to go on, and more people could die. But if you accept it, and fail to interpret the clues correctly, they will still die, and you will have concealed information that could have stopped a killer.

Such is the dilemma faced by New York detective Callum Doyle. The decision he takes will have consequences that will haunt him for the rest of his life ...

David Jackson's new book, the Helper, was published by Pan Macmillan earlier this month (paperback and Kindle). It's already had some great reviews. The Times described it as 'a clever device, adroitly executed and fun to read.' The Milo's Rambles blog commented: 'A magnificent book, one that will have you entertained from the very first page right up to its climactic dénouement... Take a bow, sir; this is a virtuoso performance, Mr Jackson, if ever there was one.'

Many congratulations to Dave on its publication and good luck with sales!

Interview and review

If you feel that the one thing you need to while away your lunch hour in peace is an interview with me, it's your lucky day; blogger and writer Donna Hole has provided you with just that, throwing in a review of The Dog of the North too.

If you are in the rather larger camp that neither knows nor cares where my next interview will pop up, Donna's blog has lots more entertaining material, and you need not stint yourself simply because you've already heard everything I have to say on the narrow and self-referential topic of the writer's journey.

Sad News

Mary, the wife of Macmillan author Ryan David Jahn, died earlier this week. Ryan’s deeply moving account of her fight against cancer is on his blog.

He tells the story so eloquently that I am reluctant to add anything of my own other than my most sincere condolences. Her death at such a young age is a tragedy and has shocked me and everyone I have spoken to about it.

As authors, we write not for ourselves but because we have something we wish to share - hopefully with a wider public but always with those that we love and are closest to. One of my regrets is that my parents didn’t live to see the publication of my first novel. Mary did at least see Ryan’s early successes; it is sad that she will not be there to celebrate with him the many great books that are still to come.

My deepest sympathies to Ryan, and to his and Mary’s families.

More Short Stories

Me again. 

Sorry to hog the blog, but I wanted to post up a link to Dog Horn Publishers. They're running an author spotlight piece on me at the moment because they're going to be publishing a collection of my short stories at the end of this year/beginning of next year and I'm really excited about it. I'll also be contributing to the next issue of their monthly magazine of strange fiction, Polluto. 

Here's a description of Dog Horn:

Dog Horn Publishing is dedicated to publishing the best in cutting edge literature.

We publish bold voices and writing that takes risks. We are less concerned by genre than we are by defying convention, taking readers someplace new, and challenging the limits of what writing is and does.

From the outset we have been dedicated to nurturing writers not books, while remaining both independent and brave. Dog Horn authors are collaborators and friends. We work with them, and they with us, to ensure the best outcome for any project. Our books are striking, both visually and in terms of content, and we welcome the daring, the absurd, the mischievous and the dangerous.

We are committed to developing writers and promoting literature. We speak our minds and aren't afraid to say so.

Smokelong Story: Lydia Before

Sometimes really short reads are just what you need. So in the hope that you're ready to read something very short right now, here's a link to a piece of flash fiction that I wrote, now up at Smokelong. I think the artwork is brilliant.

There should be an interview at the end of the week as well.

Hope you enjoy it!