I'm chuffed that Valancourt Books 5-starred Heidi Seek and other stories here on Goodreads review
They know a thing or two about the horror genre, publishing classic horror novels alongside more contemporary books in the genre. I'm also pleased that "Kafka's Chair" was picked out as one of their favourite stories in the collection as it is also one of mine, based as it is on a surreal trip to Prague some time ago. Of course, no one really died on my surreal trip, as far as I know...
AFM
Monday 28 July 2014
Wednesday 4 June 2014
Tuesday 27 May 2014
Newspaper feature on me, ghosts, records and who I'd invite to dinner (dead or alive!)
One of my dinner guests
Below is a recent newspaper article about me, my writing, why I like living in Tankerton/Whitstable and what 'celebrities' (dead or alive) I would theoretically invite to dinner :
Whitstable /Canterbury Times
It was a very difficult decision as to who to have around for dinner. In the end, I decided that 'dead' people had an advantage over the 'living'; not least because dead people don't usually come to dinner so it was an opportunity not to be missed... I also interpreted 'celebrity' loosely.
To find out who came to my dinner party from the grave, and why I asked them to come, please click the link above. The feature includes other pieces of personal information: have I ever seen a ghost? What was the first record I ever bought? etc.
AFM
Tuesday 13 May 2014
Talking with John Gordon Sinclair
Well, WhitLit 2014 drew to a close on Sunday ending with a public talk with JGS at the Horsebridge in Whitstable. It was very well-attended, the atmosphere congenial, the audience appreciative and the conversation (hopefully) informative and entertaining. There were certainly plenty of laughs during the hour or so that we chatted; John is a relaxed and natural entertainer with a wicked sense of humour.
In between the laughs there was, I think, a casual drilling down to what makes John tick as a crime writer: what or who are his inspirations, how he made the transition from acting into writing novels, what the themes of his work are (forgiveness, redemption, truth and lies, love and loss, how people deal with grief and crisis etc) and how he fashions his fast, bloody and complex hard-boiled crime thrillers (the twisting plots he keeps all in his head, and beer is kept in a fridge in his writing hut in the garden). Elmore Leonard's novels are, of course, a huge influence on him, but also Dickens and Cormac McCarthy.
We discussed the various levels of violence in his own novels, the reasons for it, and how he tries to balance this by injecting pathos into the relationships of his protagonists, male and female. There is, he agreed, a subtle shift in the emotional core of his second novel, Blood Whispers, perhaps aided by having a strong central female character. His writing is 'hard-boiled' in style, but there could be a soft centre.
I enjoyed reading his very filmic novels (Seventy Times Seven and Blood Whispers) and was not surprised to discover that he is a fan of Tarentino and that he would love to see either or both of his books turned into films. There was even a hint that "Jack" (Nicholson) has a copy of one of his books.
In the meantime, John will be promoting Blood Whispers at a number of crime festivals around the UK including Bristol and Edinburgh later in the year, and is already working on a third novel. We were privileged in having a preview of Blood Whispers in Whitstable at the weekend, as the book is not officially out until early June.
John Gordon Sinclair has come a long way since Bill Forsyth's 1981 film, Gregory's Girl, not least living in Surrey with his wife and two daughters. He still acts now and then, and will probably be appearing in the West End again later this year, but as he said during our talk, novel-writing is his love and passion now, and I wish him all the very best with everything he goes on to write. This, as it might turn out, is not only crime novels. Somebody in the audience asked if he ever considered writing for children, and he suggested he had ideas for a book aimed at young adults; something his own children might get to read as they begin to grow up.
It was a pleasure spending time with John, not only on stage, but in the green room beforehand. From my conversations and observations on the night I came to the conclusion that John's passion for writing is driven by an instinctive interest in people, the problems our world can throw at them and how they may be overcome. These are the things that make him tick.
On reflection, JGS makes everything look quite effortless, be it acting or writing, but I suspect he puts a great deal of thought and work into all that he does, be that acting in musicals, writing crime thrillers or fitting a new bathroom. He is pretty handy at DIY apparently, and is a fully qualified electrican.
I hope the evening sparked new ideas for any would-be crime writers in the audience, and that WhitLit goes from strength to strength after its inaugural year!
AFM
Friday 9 May 2014
Newsflash: John Gordon Sinclair appearing on ITV Meridian News tonight from 6pm-ish
John Gordon Sinclair (famous actor-turned-crime writer who will be appearing at the Whitstable Literary Festival this Sunday evening) will be talking about his writing on ITV Meridian News tonight (Friday) from 6pm-ish. Should be interesting...
I'll be talking to John in more detail about his transition from acting to writing and his influences/ inspirations this Sunday at the Horsebridge, Whitstable, from 7-30pm.
AFM
Wednesday 7 May 2014
Harbour Books and WhitLit, May 2014
I was at Harbour Books only yesterday and met the very helpful Liz Waller who also gave me a quick guided tour of her quirky and charming bookshop. They also sell cool posters and greetings cards. It's a must, and is very close to the hub of the festival, the Horsebridge Centre.
Don't forget - I shall be hosting a couple of interesting events: "Transformers" on Saturday 4-30pm, and an interview with actor-turned-writer, John Gordon Sinclair, on Sunday 7-30pm; both events at the Horsebridge. For details of these, please see an earlier post.
I hope to see you there!
AFM
Thursday 24 April 2014
Living with Lyme Disease
Prior to my recent publication of Heidi Seek and other stories, some people who know me (or know of me as a writer/tutor), may have asked themselves...well, what exactly happened to A.F. McGuinness between 2011-2013? After all, he had been teaching creative writing at two universities in Canterbury...hadn't he? And he was working on a new novel...wasn't he? And then...just silence..
Perhaps I didn't want to be labelled, but this is the first time I've ever talked about my illness beyond the confines of close family and friends during the past three and a half years (the word "nightmare" cannot possibly do justice to the life I and my wife were forced to lead), but a recent tweet/ link to a story of a Lyme disease- sufferer Lyme story in Daily Mail has convinced me to break my own silence, and talk about Lyme disease and how it can destroy lives. Stories like this make my blood boil.
The true story in the Daily Mail brought home - as if it needed bringing home - the hell that I endured (and to a degree still endure), from initial signs of bacterial infection, to an acute neurological phase involving brain inflammation, during which I felt genuinely close to death; periods of hospitalisation; and later, learning to live with a chronic condition that may or may not be curable. All beginning with a little bite from a tick! If living with Lyme disease and its symptoms are not bad enough, many NHS patients are made a double victim by poor medical/ clinical diagnoses, and intransigence regarding treatment. This is well documented nationally and worldwide. I am not alone when I say that I am a survivor not because of NHS treatment, but rather despite it. If you want to know more about Lyme disease in general, and read some true stories, and find important information about how you can avoid the disease in the first place (with summer almost upon us, you really must find out how to protect yourself from ticks), please visit the Lyme Disease Action group here:Lyme Disease Action
Every Lyme patient has their own unique story to tell, but it is truly scandalous just how many times the same story recurs: signs of illness, misdiagnosis, confusion, delay in treatment or no treatment at all. The repercussions of late treatment or non-existent treatment, as I sadly know only too well, are potentially disastrous in the extreme. The likelihood for me (and for thousands of others in the same boat) is that I will have to tolerate or accommodate a life-long bacterial infection that follows a pattern of "relapsing-remitting" pain and fatigue. This is really why I was unable to write much from 2011-13; I was genuinely trying to stay alive. It was not until little green shoots of recovery showed themselves in late 2013/early 2014 (after appropriate antibiotic treatment) that Heidi Seek was finalised, and I am now cracking on with my second novel. I am well enough to do that.
My experiences during the past past three and a half years have been harrowing...so harrowing in fact that I am compelled to write about them. Of course, I first tried to write a "Lyme memoir", exploring every creative non-fiction avenue, but in the end the reality of events were so painful, and too close for comfort to complete. Rather than writing a memoir, I was digging my own grave with every page.
Which is why, in time, I have distanced myself from the nightmare, in the form of fiction. After all, fiction is what I write. This time, it will be semi-autobiographical. It can be no other way. The story has to be told through the eyes of another.
To anybody out there who suffers with Lyme disease, all I can say is hang on in there. You are not alone. You can feel better in time. Seek advice and appropriate treatment where and when you can. Visit Lyme Disease Action too. It is a mine of useful up-to-date information.
Good luck, and good health,
AFM
Perhaps I didn't want to be labelled, but this is the first time I've ever talked about my illness beyond the confines of close family and friends during the past three and a half years (the word "nightmare" cannot possibly do justice to the life I and my wife were forced to lead), but a recent tweet/ link to a story of a Lyme disease- sufferer Lyme story in Daily Mail has convinced me to break my own silence, and talk about Lyme disease and how it can destroy lives. Stories like this make my blood boil.
The true story in the Daily Mail brought home - as if it needed bringing home - the hell that I endured (and to a degree still endure), from initial signs of bacterial infection, to an acute neurological phase involving brain inflammation, during which I felt genuinely close to death; periods of hospitalisation; and later, learning to live with a chronic condition that may or may not be curable. All beginning with a little bite from a tick! If living with Lyme disease and its symptoms are not bad enough, many NHS patients are made a double victim by poor medical/ clinical diagnoses, and intransigence regarding treatment. This is well documented nationally and worldwide. I am not alone when I say that I am a survivor not because of NHS treatment, but rather despite it. If you want to know more about Lyme disease in general, and read some true stories, and find important information about how you can avoid the disease in the first place (with summer almost upon us, you really must find out how to protect yourself from ticks), please visit the Lyme Disease Action group here:Lyme Disease Action
Every Lyme patient has their own unique story to tell, but it is truly scandalous just how many times the same story recurs: signs of illness, misdiagnosis, confusion, delay in treatment or no treatment at all. The repercussions of late treatment or non-existent treatment, as I sadly know only too well, are potentially disastrous in the extreme. The likelihood for me (and for thousands of others in the same boat) is that I will have to tolerate or accommodate a life-long bacterial infection that follows a pattern of "relapsing-remitting" pain and fatigue. This is really why I was unable to write much from 2011-13; I was genuinely trying to stay alive. It was not until little green shoots of recovery showed themselves in late 2013/early 2014 (after appropriate antibiotic treatment) that Heidi Seek was finalised, and I am now cracking on with my second novel. I am well enough to do that.
My experiences during the past past three and a half years have been harrowing...so harrowing in fact that I am compelled to write about them. Of course, I first tried to write a "Lyme memoir", exploring every creative non-fiction avenue, but in the end the reality of events were so painful, and too close for comfort to complete. Rather than writing a memoir, I was digging my own grave with every page.
Which is why, in time, I have distanced myself from the nightmare, in the form of fiction. After all, fiction is what I write. This time, it will be semi-autobiographical. It can be no other way. The story has to be told through the eyes of another.
To anybody out there who suffers with Lyme disease, all I can say is hang on in there. You are not alone. You can feel better in time. Seek advice and appropriate treatment where and when you can. Visit Lyme Disease Action too. It is a mine of useful up-to-date information.
Good luck, and good health,
AFM
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