Dunbar Noir

The debut novel from Dunbar Noir.

Praise for the author:

‘Grim, but really good.’ Ian Rankin

‘A rare talent.’ Allan Guthrie

‘The real deal.’ Les Edgerton

‘A fantastic writer.’ Donald Ray Pollock

John Campion is the kind of teacher that any child would want for their class.

He’s also the kind of teacher that lots of mothers want to have. And some of them do.

His impulsive nature, dedication to his pupils and his love of women lead him into a chain of events that would cause even the most consummate professional to unravel.

“All on his own, Nigel Bird has created a new sub-genre: Teacher Noir. In Loco Parentis delves into the darkness of the everyday through the eyes of painfully human and delightfully contradictory characters. This is vulnerable, brave fiction.

Bird is a noir poet who crafts characters you will love, hate, and become addicted to–all at the same time. Be prepared: In Loco Parentis is a rare and devastating book.”

- Chris Rhatigan (Watch You Drown, All Due Respect, Death By Killing, Pulp Ink)

Avalaible from today at Amazon.

Over the Easter weekend you can get a copy of the illustrated children’s poem ‘The Funfair’.

It’s for young children and it’s for fun.

Enjoy.

… that Dunbarnoir has 3 nominations over at this year’s Spinetingler awards?

There’s ‘Hoodwinked’ (from the collection Beat On The Brat And Other Stories) in the ‘Best Story On The Web’ category.

‘Dirty Old Town And Other Stories’ has been nominated in the Best Cover category.

‘Pulp Ink’ has been nominated in the Best Anthology category, for which I was the co-editor.

Which is amazing.

You can find the details here and should you wish to cast your votes in support, that would be lovely.

Many thanks.

Steal Softly Thru’ Sunshine
Steal Softly Thru’ Snow

Dunbar Noir has received the honour of being nominated for Spinetingler’s Best Novella Award.  It’s a real achievement.

Others in the list – Tom Piccirilli, Ray Banks, Chuck Wendig and Gerard Brennan, making this one of the most amazing lists around.

You’re right, it doesn’t make me the daddy yet, but it could end up that way.

So, if you’ve read Smoke and feel like giving your support, please follow the link above and get voting.

Hi.

There’s a giveaway of my collection ‘Beat On The Brat (and other stories)’ over at http://www.blastedheath.com/?p=4466

It features the winner of the Watery Grave Invitational of 2010 (previous winner, Hilery Davidson) and a nominee for the Spinetingler Magazine Best Story Online 2011.

There are about 20 hours left, so if you’d like one, don’t dilly dally.

Many thanks,

nigel

A collection of memorable stories for you to love and to enjoy.

Included is ‘An Arm And A Leg’, first published in Crimespree Magazine and then in Mammoth’s Best British Crime Stories 8.  It’s also the prequel to the novella, Smoke.

The title was perfect – thanks JDS

Tuesday night.  Home from work and knocked down by some kind of flu.  Awful.  Straight to bed and no supper.

Wednesday morning, up and about with the children, dropping them off to school with my mind focussed on a little lie down, see if it might make me feel better.

Bump inot Tadg.  Tadg is cool.  He’s a writer of many hats.  One hat was his rather ingenioius ‘The Average Life Of The Average Person: How It All Adds Up‘.

It’s not long before we sit for coffee in his wonderful home, surrounded by charm and things half-finished.

Chat turns to writing.  It often does. 

Tadg has a story he’s not going to write.  There’s the duelling piece he’s been collaborating on and the kitchen’s to be ripped out and there are so many pies he doesn’t have enough fingers.

I offer to write it.  I’ve not written a story for a month now.  He says yes.

It’s a ghostly, horror piece.  It’s not something I’ve considered trying before as reader of writer.  Then again, Chris Holm and Heath Lowrance and Ron Brown and Jodi MacArthur things at Beat To A Pulp and more besides have meant I’ve come across dark tales almost by accident and loved them.

Somehow the story gets under my skin.  I carry it home in my head.

There’s also something to prove, that ebooks make sense (Tadg, soon-to-be owner of a kindle has a room of books that’s like a library or the old curiosity shop and isn’t yet convinved).

I write.  Should be sleeping, but I type away and send it back.

Tadg likes it.  Adds a different ending.  I have it again.

It bounces back and forth like a lamb on a trampoline.

Finally we have it.  A polished story (last time I looked).  A ghost story.  Horror, I think.

It’s aslo got the tag erotic.  There’s definitely an erotic strand in there if you’re fairly unusual, the tag mainly being to see if we can sell an extra couple of copies.

We resisted and erotic title.

Second hand became ‘A Handsome Man’.

I wonder what you’ll think.

Yesterday saw the launch of the amazing new publisher, Scottish based Blasted Heath.

Now, if you go over there today, you’ll find you can get yourself a free copy of Anthony Neil Smith’s ‘All The Young Warriors’:

‘From the blizzards of Minnesota to the hostile sun of Mogadishu, a cop and a gang leader form an uneasy alliance to track down two young cop killers who’ve fled to war-ravaged Somalia. Murder, warfare, piracy, love, betrayal and revenge. All the Young Warriors is an epic thriller that will have you white-knuckling your ereader all through the night.’

Should you feel really bold, you might want to sign up for their newsletter and get a free Douglas Lindsay book.

Which is superb.

There’ll be free books all week to celebrate their coming into existence; it’s not an opportunity to miss.

Thanks,

nigel

The first review is in for Smoke, posted by McDroll, and it’s 5 stars:

“So this is how it went for me last night. I went to bed thinking I’d make a
start on Nigel Bird’s brand new novella SMOKE and then hopefully manage to get
some sleep in. Two hours later I was still reading. Feeling guilty that it was
3am I turned off the light, only to switch it back on at 4.30am to finish
reading this superb tale about the high jinx that two young lads get up to in
Tranent.

Today will probably call for a sneaky nap at some point but do
you know, this story is well worth losing sleep over . What an excellent
storyteller Bird is in this tale of love and revenge.

The story
alternates between its two main characters, Jimmy and Carlos. Jimmy is still at
school, theoretically, but is one of those lads who has fallen through the
cracks in the system and is more likely to be seen pounding the streets of his
local community begging smokes or getting blitzed out of his head with his
mates.

Carlos has a swanky new motorised wheelchair, top notch, and was
Jimmy’s sister’s boyfriend before somebody tied him to a railway line and he
lost an arm and a leg. After a long period of therapy he’s back on the local
scene and hopes that Kylie will take him back and will allow him access to their
young son. Problems start when Kylie declares that the child isn’t
his………

If you want to know what else happens, go read it for
yourself and plenty does happen involving fighting dogs, a Ford Capri and a
steam iron.

If you want to understand what is happening in contemporary
society in Scotland then Bird is handing it to you here on a plate; kids who
have been failed by the education system, poor housing, poor employment and
training opportunities, teenage pregnancies, alcohol and drug misuse and a
criminal sub culture. Sounds bleak but for many youngsters growing up today,
this is their reality and Bird moves into this world with such ease and makes
these characters real instead of government statistics.

There’s lots of
humour too. I loved the idea of Jimmy’s trousers being flown over the school
instead of one of those awful eco flags.

Mostly Bird writes about how
people care for each other; Jimmy’s tenderness with his little nephew, his
pride in his father, his love for his sister and even in the middle of a
cesspool of aggression and violence Bird shows the love Mickey has for Leo, his
dog.

If you haven’t used that little clicky finger today yet then go use
it now, this is a truly great piece of writing with characters that will live
long in your mind. I really hope to find out what adventure Jimmy has next. How
about it Nigel?”

That seriously brought a tear to my eye.

WOW.