David Armstrong - Page 1
| British Pbk Original - Allison & Busby (2003) |
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How not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author
Confessions of a Mid-list Author
Reading a self-help book for would be authors can give you the impression that becoming an author is a simple and lucrative process. But for the vast majority of published authors the bestseller lists are something to dream about and writing is not their main source of income. David Armstrong is a typical mid-list author: his books are well received but have failed to make a commercial breakthrough, his work sells solidly but unspectacularly, he's well known within the writing community but the majority of book buyers,
will never have heard his name. And it is from this position that he has produced an antidote to the vast number of overly optimistic writers' guides. How Not to Write a Novel is a comprehensive guide to becoming a
published author. Subjects covered range from agents to vanity publishing, the slush pile to prizes and contracts to marketing. Brutally honest and thoroughly refreshing - finally a writers' guide that tells it like it really is!
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First British Edition Allison & Busby (2001) |
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Small Vices
Small Vices, follows Det.Ins.Frank Kavanagh’s efforts to find the killer of young prostitutes. At the same time, the policeman’s lover, Jewish DC, Jane Salt, is investigating a series of violent cash heists in the London area.
But the burgeoning love affair between Salt and Kavanagh is threatened by Kavanagh’s contact with his ex-wife, a woman from whom he has never, truly, broken free.
Added to this heady cocktail of violent crime, love and naked lust, are the long-held secrets of men now in positions of power and influence: Through tatter’d Clothes small vices do appear/Robes and furr’d gowns hide all. King Lear.
Praise for David Armstrong
'Armstrong breaks fresh ground with each new novel. None of his contemporaries seem more sure-footed . . . British crime writing is on a roll at the moment and this is about as good as it gets.' Philip Oakes, The Literary Review
‘A superb demonstration of doggedness, carried out with great flair, packing a grim final punch, and of self-scrutiny of a tormented policeman with a near-complicitous understanding of his prey. Bleak yet breezy, and quite brilliant.’ The Sunday Times
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First British Edition HarperCollins (1997) |
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Thought For The Day
See Review by
Martin Edwards
- creator of the highly acclaimed, Liverpool based Harry Devlin Mysteries
Traumatised by the hunt for a serial killer, and the intense private grief that followed his wife’s leaving him, DI Frank Kavanagh has been transferred to London, where he is regarded with suspicion by his new chiefs on the force.
In charge of the team investigating the apparent abduction of advertising executive, Martyn Foyle, Kavanagh’s shaky professional credentials are now on the line.
The kidnapping takes some increasingly bizarre and sinister turns which leave police baffled. But eventually, the macabre discovery of a charred corpse on a Shropshire golf-course leads to the pieces of this complex jigsaw slotting together.
‘A new and arresting talent.' Financial Times
`Quite brilliant.' Sunday Times
‘A fine novel...’ Donna Leon in The Sunday Times
‘Unequivocally excellent...’ The Literary Review
| Paperback - HarperCollins (1996) |
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Until Dawn Tomorrow
Set in the mid-nineties, Until Dawn Tomorrow, moves from the Midlands to the remote countryside of Wales and builds to its climax in the urban nightmare of London.
David Armstrong’s third novel was highly praised. John Coleman, writing in The Sunday Times called it ‘quite brilliant’. While Philip Oakes, in the Literary Review wrote, 'Armstrong breaks fresh ground with each new novel. None of his contemporaries seem more sure-footed... British crime writing is on a roll at the moment and this is about as good as it gets.'
| Paperback - HarperCollins (1995) |
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Less Than Kind
Set in 1968, Charles, son of impoverished landowner Philip Somerville, is on the run from London drug dealers in the Welsh Borders.
In nearby Llantrisillio, hippy newcomers James and Suzie find their sylvan idyll sullied by the sordid voyeurism of a farming neighbour.
Meanwhile, Birmingham policeman John Munroe, liaising with Welsh colleagues on a routine inquiry, finds himself drawn into a sinister investigation which uncovers a web of dangerous passions running beneath the outwardly calm rural scene.
Less Than Kind, an atmospheric thriller described by James Melville in The Ham and High, as ‘a murder mystery subtly written for literate adults'.
About The Author
In his Own Words...
I was born in Birmingham. Primary school was unremarkable but, having passed the entrance exam, secondary school was an unmitigated disaster: I went into a comatose state for five years and emerged with no qualifications at all.
I did lots of different jobs, before going ‘on the road' with a friend. There was no Crimewatch in those days, and people still gave lifts to people carrying rucksacks and sleeping bags, even guitars.
It was March and there was snow in the field outside Shepton Mallet where we pitched our tent. The next night we spent most of our budget staying in a Bed and Breakfast. Within a week, we were back home in Birmingham, but planning an assault on Europe.
I eventually went ‘back to school’, got married, and had two children. After doing an English degree in Cardiff, I spent the next fifteen years teaching English at a college of FE in Shropshire.
The year that Night’s Black Agents was accepted for publication, I resigned from teaching. Since then, I’ve had four more books published, Less Than Kind, Until Dawn Tomorrow, Thought For The Day and the new one, published in November 2001, Small Vices.
I’ve published poetry and short stories, as well as written features for The Times, Daily Telegraph, London Evening Standard, Manchester Evening News and Sunday Times.
I recently appeared on Radio Four’s Front Row, reading an extract from Don’t Forget to Write, a non-fiction work about the writing business and, earlier this year, on the same programme, was in discussion with Mark Lawson about the plight of the ‘mid-list’ writer.
In May, 2001, a dramatised version of Don’t Forget to Write was given its theatrical premiere.
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
How not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author
(Allison & Busby Pbk,
2003)
Until Dawn Tomorrow
(Soundings,
2002)
Small Vices
(Allison & Busby,
2001)
(Frank Kavanagh)
Thought For The Day
(HarperCollins,
1997)
HarperCollins Pbk 1998
(Frank Kavanagh)
Until Dawn Tomorrow
(HarperCollins,
1995)
HarperCollins Pbk 1996
(Frank Kavanagh)
Less Than Kind
(HarperCollins,
1994)
HarperCollins Pbk 1995
Night's Black Agents
(HarperCollins,
1993)
HarperCollins Pbk 1994
How not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author
pbk 02 Jun 03
by David Armstrong
