Writing. Secret Skin, a hard-boiled private eye novel involving human trafficking in Paris. I've just finished work on this, and I'm already compiling notes on the second novel starring the American PI in Paris, Charlie Sandoval.
Travelling -- In the last few years Amanda and myself have travelled around Europe and took in the delights of Paris, Bruges, Venice, Verona, various parts of Austria and Slovenia, as well as much of Germany around the Rhine region. Venice and Paris stand out in particular -- both are truly unique and beautiful places to me where time seems to stand still.
Photography is a relatively new hobby of mine, but I've developed a real taste for it. There's a few examples of my work here and there on this site and my Flickr sites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwater1/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/26406852@N00/
Music
Jeff Buckley, Serge Gainsbourg, Scott Walker, Tom Waits, Marianne Faithfull, Nick Cave, Stina Nordenstam, Frank Sinatra, Anja Garbarek, Explosions in the Sky, Chris Isaak, Miles Davis, Anjani Thomas, Rufus Wainwright, Johnny Cash, Alizee, Jill Tracy, Bernadette Seacrest, Tool, Nerina Pallot, Tori Amos, Nick Drake, Marillion, Sammy Davis Jr, Roy Orbison, Leonard Cohen, Ute Lemper, Anthony and the Johnsons, Bat for Lashes, Marvin Gaye, Porcupine Tree, Dean Martin, The Church, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Carla Bruni, CoCo Rosie, Dream Theater, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Emilie Autumn, Emilie Simon, John Coltrane, Juliette and the Licks, Keren Ann, King Crimson, Pink Martini, Queens of the Stone Age, Ravi Shankar, Roger Waters, Talk Talk, Vince Guaraldi, The Who, Richard Thompson, Carina Round, Ricki Lee Jones, Pink Floyd, Vanessa and the O's, Robin McKelle, Richard Hawley, PJ Harvey, Nico, Editors, Nancy Sinatra, Julie London, Etta James
Movies
Magnolia, Night of the Hunter, Psycho, Casablanca, Some Like it Hot, The Wizard of Oz, Children of Men, The Departed, La Vie en Rose, Paris, Je'Taime, The Dark Knight, The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, The Prestige, Citizen Kane, Heaven's Prisoners, And God Created Woman, The Wicker Man, American Beauty, Almost Famous, Casino Royale, 300, Garden State, Fight Club, Seven, Amelie, Donnie Darko, Capote, Walk the Line, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Little Miss Sunshine, Sin City, The Rules of Attraction...
Television
Dexter, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, The Vice, Heroes, The Office, Extras, The Avengers, The Twilight Zone, Frasier, Spaced, The Shield, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Family Guy, The Prisoner, Coupling
Books
James Lee Burke (The absolute BEST crime writer working today - if you haven't read one of his gorgeous, elegaic novels, drop everything you're doing and go and buy one) James Salter (the finest living novelist you've never heard of; A Sport and A Pastime is one of the great great novels), Derek Raymond (author of the Factory sequence - the defining British crime novels), John D. MacDonald, Robert Crias, Michael Connolly, Christopher Priest, Kenneth Robeson, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, J.G. Ballard, Joel Lane, Mark Billingham, Ian Rankin, Graham Joyce, James Ellroy, Jonathan Carroll, Ramsey Campbell, Mo Hayder, Stephen Fry, Phil Rickman, Richard Aleas, Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin, Henry Miller, Sarah Waters, Nicholas Royle, M. John Harrison, John Irving. Any amount of the Hard Case Crime imprint authors...
I'm also a big fan of European comic art: Regis Loisel, Serpieri, Allesandro Barbucci, Enki Bilal, Jodorowsky, Moebius...
Simon Avery Serge Gainsbourg, Melody Nelson and visits to Paris over at Tears All Over Town... http://simonavery.blogspot.com/Posted at 12:02 AM Mar 31 view more
Transmissions From Beyond, the brand new podcast from TTA Press. We feature stories selected from the pages of the TTA Press magazines Interzone (science fiction & fantasy), Black Static (horror), and Crimewave (crime & mystery). New stories appear every other Monday.
http://transmissionsfrombeyond.com/
A READING OF BURY THE CARNIVAL WHICH FEATURED IN BLACK STATIC 1 WILL APPEAR IN THE NEXT ROUND OF PODCASTS. OUT NOW!p>
In CRIMEWAVE 10 NOW YOU SEE ME: 101 Ways To Leave Paris - A hard-boiled tale of revenge in the City of Light
Now we get to the story I consider the best of the issue, “101 Ways to Leave Paris” by Simon Avery. Jack Chappel, a man wronged by the woman he loved and the brother he cleaned up after, comes back to Paris after a stretch in prison, looking for some kind of justice. It opens with what appears to be an unconnected vignette of a young man playing matador in the middle of Parisian traffic, described in vivid detail by Avery. His language is lush and descriptive as he describes careening cars and the delicate twirl of a red coat. After the obvious occurs, we move to the meat of the story, which looks at first to be a stereotypical revenge plot but blossoms into something better and altogether more interesting. The personalities at play here are conflicting mirrors, their actions and reactions echoing one another in a cinematic style. Avery entices the reader into Chappel’s head and then makes it impossible for the reader to leave, layering the story on, hinting at some things and bringing others full out into the light, but always leaving the reader wanting more. This is noir at its finest, with the world blurring to gray around the characters as each struggles to find some measure of balance. (THE FIX)http://thefix-online.com/reviews/crimewave-10/
In Black Static 6: The Better Part of You - A woman released from a mental institution takes her new lover home to the seaside to escape or confront the darkness of her past.
Most Black Static stories seem reluctant to make their speculative element too blatant, but Simon Avery opens the issue with 'The Better Part of You,' and dumps the speculative element squarely in front of the reader from the moment that Chelsea (an unstable young woman) and James (the narrator) make love. Chelsea feels real in a way the most writers long to achieve; she's one of many women who are a little too out-going, a little too fragile, and end up bruised by life, damaged or even self-destructing. In creating such a memorably believable character, Avery pulls off a tour-de-force. Suite101.com
Out Now:
In BLACK STATIC #1: Bury The Carnival - A twisted re-interpretation of the Pinocchio story. (The title is from a Tom Waits song, Who Are You.
Bury The Carnival by Simon Avery, is a fresh take on Pinocchio, with the role of Geppetto being taken on by Charousek - a man recently released from prison by despotic puritans. Originally imprisoned for his use of old magic, Charousek has returned to the village in time for the End of Darkness, a momentous occasion being witnessed for the first time by many of the town’s younger inhabitants. One of these is the reporter sent to investigate Charousek’s story. What she uncovers is terrifying and life changing. Moving and atmospheric, the gripping style of Avery’s writing delivers an excellently dark little tale... (Whispers of Wickedness)
Simon Avery's 'Bury The Carnival' opens the magazine in style with the longest story in the book; it has a fairytale feel (as in Grimm, rather than Disney), not just with it's mannequin protagonists but also a faux-Eastern European setting. But the sinister Precisemen -tools of the repressive Puritan government- give the story a contemporary twist, and the affecting protagonist and her lover invoke the reader's involvement. Highly recommended.(Suite101.com)
Avery writes with slick, chilling prose and this story will stick in my head for a while. (SFCrowsnest.com)
My fiction has been placed in numerous publications over the past fifteen years, several having been re-printed in Best of anthologies.
Leaving Seven Sisters, my first crime story, published in the year 2000, was nominated for the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger for Short Fiction.
I've just completed my first novel, Secret Skin, a private eye novel set in Paris, involving humman trafficking, diamond theft and corporate crime. I'll be revising it over the next couple of months, then sending it out to an agent.
Other recent fiction... Lost in Darkness, co-authored with Ian Faulkner, which, to my delight, has recently been re-printed in The Years Best Mysteries IV, edited by Maxim Jakubowski.
Here's a selection of the books and magazines I've been published in:
Best British Mysteries Vol IV
featuring a co-authored story with Ian Faulkner,
Lost in Darkness
"Lost in Darkness" by Simon Avery and Ian R. Faulkner is a psychological tale of revenge. Charleton's girlfriend, Aimee, has been badly beaten and lies broken in the hospital. Charleton feels it is because he is black, and his rage at the people who did it manifests violently. Although the split personality/memory loss plot has been done before, Avery and Faulkner put it to good use here. What they came up with is a well-wrought crime tale that is thrilling to read.
Tangent Online
Leaving Seven Sisters
Nominated for the CRIME WRITER'S ASSOCIATION 2001 Macallan Short Story Dagger
Featured in Crimewave 4: Mood Indigo
Leaving Seven Sisters, by Simon Avery, from Crimewave 4:
A story rich in London argot and a vivid sense of place. An ex-con investigates the murder of a Tory Minister's daughter in a tongue-in-cheek tale which cunningly avoids expected clichés. The judges admired the 'getting rid of the body' episode, one of the finest expositions of this vital ingredient that they had read.
The Art of Leaving Completely
featured in:
Birmingham Noir
:
Stories from major crime writers – John Harvey, Nicholas Royle and Judith Cutler – plus a gang of dazzling noir talents
The best of "New Noir": tough, dirty realism from a tough, dirty city.
Stylish, subtle tales that tackle the complex realities of betrayal, redemption, ambition and love.
The landscape of British crime fiction has long been ruled by London. But Birmingham Noir is set to challenge that dominance with these dark urban thrillers that will unsettle and unnerve.
‘Dreams, as one of the contributors observes, are dangerous things – and danger lurks within these pages in an impressive kaleidoscope of settings. These are stories of betrayal, of communication breakdown and obsession. Some show the human cost of losing our ethics, while others reveal how madness can lurk in the supposed safety of a shopping mall or cathedral. But there is humour here too, and an awareness that we can make our lives better. Simon Avery’s perfectly observed narrative about moving on from a broken marriage is worth the cover price alone. Birmingham’s criminal underworld and sex industry are laid bare in these entertaining, saddening and shocking pages. Lock up your daughters, sons and the family cat until you’ve learned from these stories of crime in the city.’Carol Anne Davis
...Simon Avery's equally well-observed narrative delivers shocks from the start when a Romanian teenager finds herself forced into a life of prostitution. Her experiences are entwined with the actions of a middle-aged man whose marriage is failing. 'Once you begin to pick at a frayed thread, you find that everything unravels at a frightening speed.'
alchemypress.com
...The book ends on a high note, with the brutal and emotive 'The Art of Leaving Completely' by Simon Avery... here outstanding with the picture of a marriage on the way out and a man who tries to save somebody else even though he can't save himself...
Peter Tennant
Lost and Found
featured in:
Beneath The Ground
'Simon Avery's 'Lost and Found', I'm glad to say, is another matter. By now, halfway into the book, I was still waiting for a story to really knock my socks off; in the centre of the collection, appropriately enough, is where I believe I found its centrepiece. This finely crafted tale of loss... shows Lovecraftian tendencies without ever unveiling the eldritch horrors at its heart, but it's wonderfully suggestive of the form those horrors might take.'Infinity Plus.co.uk
Leon is Dead
featured in
The Third Alternative # 33
...the highlight of the issue is Simon Avery's "Leon is Dead", an enthralling and bizarre tale surrounding the mystery of the eponymous graffito.
Locus magazine
The Remains of the Richest Man in the World
featured in
Crimewave 6:Breaking Point ed:Andy Cox
...I wonder if anyone else reading "Remains of the Richest Man in the World" will be reminded of the powerful film The Limey? Avery's prose reads like the bleak, brutal script, but with its own dark vision. It is a lose-lose situation, but you can't tear yourself away even after the last word; you'll find yourself thinking about it later and at the oddest times. Combine Avery's brilliant piece with Conrad Williams' harrowing "Crappy Rubsniff" and you have a pair that are worth the cost of Breaking Point all on their own.
The SF site
'...highlights include Simon Avery's grim 'Remains of the Richest Man in the World' (try getting the taste of it out of your mouth)...'Time Out
Other Information...
I live and (sometimes) work in Birmingham and have been with my lovely girlfriend, Amanda for six years. She is what is commonly described as 'long suffering'.
We visited Paris a few years ago for the first time and I fell head over heels in love with it, as I also did with Venice a couple of years back. We've visited both again since, along with Slovenia, Austria and Belgium.
And here's some photos...
Who I'd like to meet: The godlike Scott Walker and the equally godlike Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. And I wouldn't mind a drink or two with Hugh Hefner, Nick Cave, Keef Richards, Stephen Fry, Bettie Page, Joss Whedon and Stan(The Man)Lee. That'd be a fine night out.
I've had the pleasure of conversation with some people I've admired for some time - Jonathan Carroll, Clive Barker, Alan Moore and the late Jeff Buckley - all of whom were the equal (and more) of my expectations. Bill Hicks, in my opinion the greatest stand-up comedian of this or any other generation, was also very friendly, reserved and gracious when I met him in 1992.
Morpheus Tales thanks you for the add!
Morpheus Tales #5 featuring Joe R. Lansdale out now!
Undead Special Issue, Scream Queens Special Issue, Flash Horror Fiction Special Issue coming soon!
Plus Ray Garton, Michael Laimo, Joseph D'Lacey, Joseph McGee, Christopher Golden, and much more! www.morpheustales.com
If you would like to read a sample of one of the stories from ISLINGTON CROCODILES’ you can do that now as one of the stories is posted on the Islington Crocodiles blog page. RAIDERS is the disturbing story of Barwise and Micky.
As Graham Joyce says in his foreword to ISLINGTON CROCODILES, ‘This is the edge.’
Thanks for recording Transmission 5 at transmissionsfrombeyond. com. I try my best to make the podcasts sound their best. Thanks for your comment that you noticed.
Thanks for adding Crows on the Cross - I hear you should be wary - be very wary...
Darkest Blessings -
Kristy Tallman
Available Everywhere Books Are Sold!
Franz Kafka, in his Letter to Oskar Pollak, said, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us...We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.”
Crows on the Cross is such a book. Two lovers wake up a thousand miles apart . . haunted by ghosts and memories buried deep beneath the surface, horrors and revelations unfold as the miles click down and they speed toward each other through a day and night of fevered delirium.
“This is a book that shows us both men and women are susceptible to the real-life monsters that live and breathe all around us. In a red '69 Caddy, you'll ride right along side them and delve right into their pasts, becoming white knuckled by the end wanting to destroy their demons for them.”
-Lauren Ferrell, Publisher
“The demons Kristy Tallman creates in this book are too real, so real it will change the way you look at the common passerby every time you walk out your front door. Tallman has done it again! Her ability to turn the pages of a novel into a real to life psychological hell for the reader by showing you that the genuine horror in this world is our very own human race has again been accomplished with an encore for more. Tallman has definitely surpassed the expectations I held after reading The All-Souls Faire. She managed to shock me to the core and horrify me like no other author has in a long time! Excellent!”
Howdy Doody Mr Avery Sir! What a spiffing pleasure to hear from you again! Ever since Jumpin' Joe's fiendish surgical strike on my simcard sent me sinking into a mobile-free luddite mire, I've found myself feeling a little excommunicated from Polite Society without the means to claw my way back in...wouldjacouldja message me with Joe's mobile #, and yer own if y'd be so kind? It's damnably difficult fixing anything up without these newfangled communications devices these days, but we must get together sharpish for shits and giggles and fixing up further shenanigans...did you make it to the last Candybox? We kept a look out for as long as we were sensibly able, but to no avail. The next one looks to be something rather frisky, with the Kittens DeVille and Onthekeys and that heap big Doity Moitini, as well as Leyla Rose and sundry shapely others; and The Puppinis are a must, methinks...
Bon voyage on the gallic expedition, don't drink the water etc etc; look forward to seeing you all on your return, so keep me posted
Thanks for letting me add you as a friend. I must see if I can get hold of some of your work. It's good to find another Phil Rickman fan - I'm trying to convert people but it's a slow process (people just refuse to do as I tell them, even when it's for their own good). Cheers, Alli
Hey, I am also most excited about Monday! Sofi is coming down over the weekend to see Dada (did I mention that were on at the Adam and Eve?) and I think I'll be heading to the gig with her on Monday so I'll probably meet you for a drink there if that's cool? Hope you're well. x
Of wives...who would rather have their husbands to hold
Of children...who would rather have their dad or mom at home.
Of mothers...who have buried their sons/daughters
Of fathers...whose feet their children followed
Of the men and women fighting a nightmare of their own -
one they will carry with them until the same song plays,
the same flag drapes and the same tears fall
just as they watched in pain their friends and comrades
committing what they will come to call "wrongs"
by which they lived..by which they survived...
nightmares they will carry with them throughout their lives.
It doesn't go away when the guns are laid down..
It doesn't go away when they return home...
It doesn't go away for them - why should it for you?
God Bless Our Veterans of Wars Past & Present
Remember those who have lost loved ones as much as you remember the ones who were lost and don't forget to pray for those who are out there everyday fighting for your freedom...
Hello, I shall be logging into hotmail in a moment to check out the new lyrics. Don't worry about not attending the party, it would have been lovely to see you but understand how things are and know we'll catch up very soon. Hope all is well and look forward to seeing you soon...I'm looking forward to playing you bits and bobs and telling you about Roger Waters, genius that he is! See you soon. x
Hello there! I was just wondering how you and Amanda are fixed over the next couple of weeks? We need to have a get together I feel. The Porcupine Tree gig was devastatingly good last week and I've just had a complete first playing of Tori's new album which has nearly blown my head apart! How are things with you at the moment? x
Make sure you do! It would be so great to see you again, a lot has gone on for me since I last saw you and I'm sure you'll have plenty to share also. I work part time, 4-8 Mon to Fri (just to try and survive) so I could drop over in the day, after 8 or over the weekend. Let me know which will be best for you and I'm there. Hope you're well. x
Hello, it's been a while to say the least. The muses have been in full swing and I seem to be coming up with some strong song ideas...myspace music page soon to be on here! It would be great if we could get together, drink coffee, listen to some music and let me get your thoughts on how things are sounding. A general catch up is most definitely in order anyway! Hope you're well. x
No problemo RE: Candy Box, low flying drinks have always been a professional hazard of mine at that place, although I do think I owe Mr Hat a sizeable (relatively, if you see what I mean) dry-clean; have you booked up for April's shenanigans yet? Couple of other things that might be of interest: fantastic photographer Richard Heeps has an exhibition at the Wolverhampton Lighthouse starting 19th March, don't know if there's an Event but I'm trying to find out; Royal Crown Revue tickets for the Glee Club are on sale now, 8th May. check out the London Burlesque Festival, May 9-12 (??), should be bleedin' excellent. There's some advanced passes to all events on sale now at £50, good for all events. I'm really interested, depending if anyone else is up for it...let me know. I'll send you a "check this out" about their myspace page. Looking forward to coming over, who could resist a housewarming for Tits?
The East Coast tour dates. Praise me, draw a burlesque girl, or throw a tomato, on the following days
February 27th, 2007
Washington, DC
Dr. Sketchy's takes the Capital
at The Palace of Wonders
1210 H Street NE
Washington DC
$10, 21 +
7-10 pm
A full Dr. Sketchy's extravagenza, with the lovely Amber Ray modelling and performing her peacock dance, and me reading the most salacious parts of my book
March 2nd, 2007
Richmond, VA
Signing and mini-Dr. Sketchy's at Chop Suey
Books
1317 West Cary Street
6-8pm
with Mimi Noir of Nouvelle Burlesque
March 3rd, 2007
Greensboro, NC
Molly hosts Dr. Sketchy's with body-painted burlesque goddess Foxy Moxy
at Two Art Chicks Studios
609 South Elm St.
March 4, 2007
Durhem, NC
Signing and Dr. Sketchy's at Jigsaw Comics, with the lovely Audra Gwarskitty
305 South Anti-Mall
305 South Dillard Street
4-7 pm
March 5th, 2007
Norfolk, VA
Molly hosts Dr. Sketchy's and does booksigning at Relative Theory Records, with Jen Dziura modelling her Wonder Woman panties
6:30-8:30 pm
271 Granby St, Suite 200
March 8th, 2007
Baltimore, MD
Atomic POP
3620 Falls Road
7-9PM
Signing and Mini-Dr. Sketchy's with the lovely Kitty Victorian Visit Our Website
