Ten Questions - Walter Conley

After a bit of a hiatus, Ten Questions returns.

First of the new stable of horses ready to be released from the Ten Questions block, is the thoroughbred that is Walter Conley. With one of his shorts appearing in the new Near to the Knuckle anthology, if you've not already read Walter's writing then it's time to do so before the horse has bolted, so to speak.

What are you currently working on?

I’m writing a novella about a woman who must commit a terrible act of violence to save her own life. She kills two men in the process and is hunted by a surviving family member.

Last year, an agent requested that I submit a novel. I’m preparing to send it now. A fringe character from my Wellesport stories orchestrates a hit that goes wrong, flees cross-country and winds up in an even more dire situation.

I’ve also been working on a TV series—based on the true account of a little-known female serial killer—which was just pitched to a studio.

Nothing too pleasant. I think the last upbeat thing I wrote was a coloring book in 2001.

Why did you start writing?

To get laid. No, wait—that was Somerset Maugham.

I have given plenty of thought to the craft and my choice of subject matter, but not to why I started. I’ve been doing it since I learned to put a sentence together. I’m a born recluse and spent most of my childhood immersed in books, so it was only natural that I attempt it myself. Discovering Poe caused me take writing seriously. Other key influences in my early development were Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby is so believeable you forget you’re reading a novel on the first page), Harold Pinter (silences and smokescreen-banter often reveal more than they conceal) and George V. Higgins (pacing, economy and, well, everything—it’s Higgins).

Where do you write?

On a PC at a desk that belonged to my wife’s late grandmother, in a room that’s kind of an office/madhouse with toys and a piano; walk in and you’ll be greeted by a four foot antique doll in a Mercedes SUV. Recently, though, my wife bought a laptop and I’ve been trying that out in the music room, in front of the TV. I don’t write in public. When I go to a coffee shop, it’s to drink coffee. Black coffee. Small, medium or large.

“Short, you said?”

“No, small.”

Is your writing inspired by real events?

Not current events. I have adapted incidents from my past, but the bulk of what I write is invented. The creation of new material supercedes every other aspect of this for me—to the point that I often jump from first draft to first draft without revising things. Usually I’ll have a single line of dialogue or description pop into my head and off I go.

Do you have enough time to write?

I have quite a bit. I work three long nights a week, over the weekend, then write on weekdays. I tend to edit in shorter sessions after lunch. If possible, I also bang out a little on weekend mornings.

Have you got a favourite author/genre?

Patricia Highsmith, since I read The Cry of the Owl as a teenager. I re-read her books all the time.

I don’t have a favorite genre. My latest stack contains a biography, classics, YA fantasy, a nonfic book on the U.S. black market...

Physical book or e-book?

I prefer physical, although I read a lot of e-books. I have print books scattered from one end of my house to the other. I miss brick-and-mortar bookstores, which have all but vanished where I live.

Who should we look out for?

JD Phillips has impressed the hell out of me. I know she’s busy and can’t wait to see what comes out next.

What question would you ask yourself?

I already know too much.

Where can we find you?

I am notoriously unreliable with social media. Best bet is probably facebook, /wconley2. I have a blog called Katharine Hepcat, at katharinehepcat.wordpress.com. I’m on twitter as @pitchbrite and can be contacted via pitchbrite@gmail.com. Forthcoming is a short entitled “Doctor Bitch” in Near to the Knuckle’s Rogue anthology.

Short Review - A Dedicated Man by Peter Robinson

The second in the Inspector Banks series sees Banks investigating a murder in a small Dales village.



When Harry Steadman is found dead at the side of a field, Banks quickly recognises it's a murder and scours the small village seeking out the deceased's friends and possible foes.

Not a speedy, fast-paced read, it instead follows the investigation and subsequent interviews while Banks tries to piece the case together with old fashioned leg-work.

The book does show its age with some of the dialogue and attitudes, but there's something satisfying about reading a crime story that isn't solved by CCTV, mobile phone records, etc. I'll be continuing with the series, but I do hope the action speeds up.

3.75/5

Quarter of a million words

While looking through word files the past few weeks, it seems I've got over 250,000 words of various guise (some of which are in the right place, etc.) from various finished, half finished or tenth finished works (there's a lot of these tenth finished for some reason, i.e the 5-10,000 range) plus a load of short stories that, to be honest, only I have ever read.

Obviously this is a sad state of affairs. There's little point spending the time writing all this (possibly 500 hours, more like a thousand with editing) if it doesn't see the light of day.

So, in order to clear the decks a bit, I'll be doing various things with the non-crime books and short stories, whether it's sending the shorts off to anthologies, maybe self pub one or two of the completed books, and try to finish some of the uncompleted ones (so I'll have even more unseen words lying around.)

I suppose The Spy with Ezcema is the obvious one to unleash on the public at first, or maybe a collection of short stories. Or maybe something else.

Maybe I'll just keep writing instead. Who knows...

Short Review - Mr Mercedes

Mr Mercedes by Stephen King

Take a retired detective haunted by not solving his last case, a serial killer with an inappropriate relationship with his mother, Stephen King's writing and characterisation, and you have a winner.

A straight up crime thriller, I was expecting a touch of the supernatural to appear and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Detective Hodges and his sidekick duo are such  well drawn characters that I found myself wishing the book was longer. This isn't unusual with some Stephen King books, and I guess it's how he's built his reputation.

4.5 / 5

Back in the allotment again

Seems I've not posted much this last year, so I guess a quick allotment update is in order.

Again, there was more fruit and veg than we could possibly eat or give away, which seems the norm for an allotment. The infamous shed and greenhouse are still somehow standing (more on the greenhouse later) and a late growing winter cabbage became a summer monster.

Firstly, the mega cabbage. A so-called winter cabbage never really grew during the winter of 2013, so I left it to see what would happen. By June or July it had grown into this.

Of course I could have picked it then and fed the whole street, but being curious as to how big it would get, I left it. By September it was bigger though had suffered from caterpillar damage. I picked it and was possibly the worse tasting cabbage ever, tough and bitter. I thought there was an Aesop's fable about leaving a cabbage so long it becomes inedible, but the google proves otherwise.

The allotment bath tub I inherited continued to look real purdy when the water lillies flowered.

An amusing shaped courgette caused much hilarity.

Onto the greenhouse. It looked like it was falling down when I took the allotment over two years ago

As it hasn't actually fallen down, and also survived two years of storms, I figure it's stronger than it looks. So, operation fix greenhouse is now underway. I've done some general tidying (though it doesn't really show) and started to shape some wood to replace the worst of the rotten bits. Next step is to paint what's left to stop further rotting and then rebuild. The final job will be to fill in the broken panes with cheap eBay polycarbonate sheets.

Short book review: Of Blondes and Bullets

I might be a month or two late to this party, but I've just read the first release from new Noir publisher Number 13 Press

Of Blondes and Bullets by Michael Young, is gritty, very British, and brings back memories of classic pulp and noir titles.

Although the first chapter starts with a fight in a workshop, it takes some time before we know who these people really are. In the second chapter we meet Frank and it's through his eyes we see the rest of the novella. After saving a drowning woman, Frank then attempts to help and gets involved in her current problems - that's putting it mildly, and I'll stop there to avoid blowing the plot.

Have to say, it was a pleasure to read. It was always going somewhere and there were no wasted words. It's a novella so it doesn't take to read, but it's the right length for the story.

Look forward to more titles.

4.5 / 5 

Allotment a year on

So it's been a year since i took the plunge, paid twenty quid and joined the bad back brigade of allotmentising oldies.

Before and after pics

Not quite from the same spot but you get the general idea.

Spring cabbages, broad beans and new potatoes are now in. The sixty odd strawberry plants are now just starting to flower.












Looking the other way

Almost the same position. The bath is still in situ (has water lillies and frogspawn in it), the last of the winter cabbages and broccoli is about all uou can see growing this way, but there are 200 onions and shallots and garlic towards the end of the plot. There's also a big pile of manure too.








I haven't got round to rebuilding the greenhouse or shed yet, but it's been an experience. What I've saved in vegetables I've probably spent buying smaller clothes due to weight loss, but overall I've enjoyed it and have paid the twenty quid for another year.