Belfast Confidential: An Evening with James Ellroy

The Demon Dog of American Literature, James Ellroy, is coming to Belfast to put the spotlight on his newest masterpiece, the incendiary BLOOD'S A ROVER. The event, organised by the redoubtable David Torrans of No Alibis, will take place at Belfast's beautiful Waterfront Hall on Saturday 7th of November. Tickets will be available from the Waterfront's box office as well as No Alibis, priced at £12.00.

I have reason to be doubly excited by Mr. Ellroy's visit: I'll be conducting the interview on stage with the Dog himself. I'm not only bug-eyed with joy, I'm also a little bit terrified. I pray the master of the hard word will be gentle with me.

This is a real coup for No Alibis, and Belfast in general, so if you're in town and have the slightest interest in literature, crime or otherwise, you should bag yourself a ticket right now. It's a unique opportunity to see one of the planet's literary giants up close and personal.

I tell you this: Ellroy will be the biggest thing to hit Belfast since Semtex. The Waterfront will tremble at his presence. Offence and outrage are guaranteed. Don't miss it.

A Crazy Day

It's coming up on midnight, and I've been sat on this chair (aside from meal, toilet, and exercise bike breaks) since around 9:45am. And how much progress did I make on the new novel?

None. Nada. Sweet Fanny Adams.

Not that I'm complaining, really. I got a lot of promo stuff done today, not least of which was revamping my home page and getting THE SIX, my free downloadable short story collection, online. I also set up a contest while I was at it. Simply by entering your email address at the point of downloading the collection, you could win one of five of the limited run of fifty signed and numbered paperback editions of THE SIX.

There was also some good news today from the publicity folks at Random House, namely that THE TWELVE was named as one of fifty best summer reads in Saturday's Independent. This might explain the sudden spike in my Amazon sales rank that happened over the weekend. The publicity department tells me there is more good news to come, so I shall keep you posted.

Oh, and there's that fabled extra special giveaway I've been bleating on about here for a while. That took a step nearer reality today, so I'm hoping I can post about that towards the end of the week. I've been thinking about the contest - it's going to be something extra challenging, as befits the prize.

And speaking of the end of this week - it may have escaped your attention, but this Friday evening, 26th of June, THE TWELVE will be officially launched at No Alibis, Belfast's famous crime bookstore, on Botanic Avenue. It's a joint event with none other than John Connolly, who will read from his latest sure-fire best seller, THE LOVERS, which Declan Burke reckons is his best yet. Although it's a free event, high demand for seats means it will be ticketed. To be honest, I don't know if David Torrans has any tickets left, but you could always give him a try on 028 9031 9601.

If you can make it, do say hello.