‘Do you want the bad news or the good news?’ I remember my old man used to spring this question on me sometimes, usually in a context where I knew that both pieces of news would pertain to football.Usually I’d go for the bad news first: so I’d hear, say, that Blackburn had only managedContinue reading “Silver Linings”
Author Archives: TYGarner
5 Great Short Stories
As I mentioned in the previous post, I’ve been reading a lot of short stories lately, though I did go back to a novel during a bout of flu last week. That’s actually had the effect of clarifying what it is I’m enjoying about the shorter form. This novel in particular is a baggy, ramblingContinue reading “5 Great Short Stories”
On writing and work
Yesterday I instagram posted the photo below of the first page of Roberto Bolano’s story Sensini from the collection ‘Last Evenings on Earth’. The story had impressed me but mainly I thought I had to post something. To say I’m not a natural on instagram would be like saying ravens aren’t natural underwater swimmers. ButContinue reading “On writing and work”
On the US election, Jill Lorean, and creativity
So it’s 2016 all over again, and tempting to feel a sense of despair as we find the world’s most powerful country back in the hands of a narcissist without the attention span to read a page of text. That’s not to say the Biden administration was inspiring. It wasn’t. It was downright feeble onContinue reading “On the US election, Jill Lorean, and creativity”
Hotel Hokusai at Bloody Scotland!
Excitingly I’ve been picked as one of 16 Crime in the Spotlight writers to appear before headliners at the Bloody Scotland festival in Stirling in September. I’ll be on at 4.30pm on Friday 13th September, at the Auld Reekie event featuring Ambrose Parry and Mairi Kidd. Me up first doing a very short intro andContinue reading “Hotel Hokusai at Bloody Scotland!”
Hotel Hokusai Update
Teaching full-time at college this term, and trying to launch and market my debut novel has meant that certain other things have had to give way. One of them has been this site. Given that my last post was titled ‘Ready to Launch’, should anyone disdain Twitter/X and be entirely reliant on this source forContinue reading “Hotel Hokusai Update”
Review of ‘Here is a Body’
Just finished Basma Abdel Aziz‘s second novel Here is a Body, and thought I’d get my thoughts down here before they fade with the return to teaching and all the other stuff. First thing to say is, this is an important novel, and reading it can deepen your understanding of what it would be likeContinue reading “Review of ‘Here is a Body’”
Ready to Launch
I received a final pdf manuscript of The Hotel Hokusai just before Christmas. After reading it through, and having one or two tiny changes to send as feedback, I had a real sense of ‘At last! We’re ready to launch.’ Perhaps this is how space scientists feel, seeing the rocket in position at the launchContinue reading “Ready to Launch”
Writing Advice
A couple of weeks ago I was out at a spoken word event in the Southside and a young man asked me for writing advice. Woah! That’s the first time anyone’s ever asked me that, I thought. That’s what comes of telling people your novel is getting published. Before you get the wrong idea, IContinue reading “Writing Advice”
Novels that inspired The Hotel Hokusai #4 The Path to the Spiders’ Nests
I can’t remember too much about what happens in Italo Calvino’s first novel The Path to the Spiders’ Nests. Only that its protagonist was a young boy caught up in the activities of Italian anti-fascist partisans in World War 2, and I enjoyed it. What made it significant for me as a reading experience isContinue reading “Novels that inspired The Hotel Hokusai #4 The Path to the Spiders’ Nests”
T.Y. Garner Writer 