No chart in April?! Can it be? Well yes, it can, because I was finishing off another draft of a novel and looking after an intransigent husky. But now I’m back with a bang. Not that I have any real news to share. I mean, Reality Testing is bombing along nicely. A bunch of reviews, a fistful of sales, a general clamour for book two in the famed Sundown series (not really; actually, a few days ago I was in Spain, shuffling along, when I realised I’d forgotten the name ‘Sundown’ and had to spend a good few seconds digging around for it in the grey matter). I should probably go back to the sequel soon, but it’s been a while since I wrote anything new and I’m itching to do so, so we shall see.
Book of the Month: GBH by Ted Lewis. One of the wonderful things about living in the Age of Internet is that for 99 cents I can buy an electronic copy of a novel that - until it was recently picked up by an indie press - had been out of print for 35 years and attained a semi-mythical status among readers of crime stories. This novel must have been one of the touchstones for Guy Ritchie when he was writing Lock, Stock and Snatch. Amoral porn kings, tight-lipped henchmen, blokes saying “ere, I’ll have a spot o’ that, guv’nor” while sipping champagne in a sunken lounge, squirrely stool pigeons, shotguns galore. It’s all very The Long Good Friday, only much better.
Album of the Month: The Arcade Fi- no, I’m joking. That was so by the numbers it could be mistaken for a sudoku. The real answer is Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C. It’s a genius album, and will almost certainly be my number one of the year. Something about that Irish brogue crooning over sparse drums, driving bass and innovative guitar really lights a fire in my emotion house.
Movie of the Month: Jitterbugs starring Messrs Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It made me laugh multiple times, and I like it that Laurel sounds like he’s stifling a hiccup whenever he speaks.
Up from suede shoes to my baby blues:
