David Whish-Wilson's blog

RIP Shane Finn (1960-2011)

Very sad to hear yesterday about the dying of Shane Finn, Shirley Finn's youngest son, who I got to know at Casuarina Prison, and to whom Line of Sight is dedicated. Shane died too young, at 51. I got to spend some time with him just before his death, and we talked about many things, his life, his impending death, and the murder of his mother. It of course sticks in my throat that, bar one or two, the people responsible for Shirley's murder are all still alive, while Shane is not. Shane was a real character, a talented writer and artist, and he will be missed.

Colleen Egan and PM Newton - Davitt Awards

Congrats to Pam Newton and Colleen Egan for taking out Sister in Crime Davitt Awards in different categories. I reviewed Colleen's terrific 'Murderer No More' earlier on this blog, and Pam's 'The Old School was also the winner of an Asher Award and short-listed in the best first fiction category of the Ned Kelly Awards, and is also well worth a read. You can learn more about the book at Pam's website - http://pmnewton.blogspot.com/

Fiona McGregor - Indelible Ink

While I was over in Melbourne it was also terrific to hear that Fiona McGregor's latest novel, Indelible Ink, has finally received the recognition it deserves. Indelible Ink was one of my favourite Australian novels of 2010, and it's hard to fathom how it missed out on some of the other short-lists about the place. Either way, congrats to Fiona on taking out The Age Book of the Year Award - reviewed by myself earlier below (spoiler alert - I describe the ending somewhat, towards the end...)

 

Alan Carter - Prime Cut

Alan Carter, who also lives in South Freo, was the recent winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. I was over for the awards ceremony, and it Alan gave a very charming speech. It was great to catch up with Angela Savage (I've reviewed The Half-Child earlier) and her partner, Andrew Nette, and his co-editors at Crime Factory, Cameron Ashley and Liam Jose. My review of Alan's book can be found online in the most recent edition of Crime Factory, #7

Crime Factory 7 - out now

The latest (7th) edition of Crime Factory, containing book reviews of recent crime fiction, essays (one by Pulp curry blogger Andrew Nette) and plenty of new short crime fiction from both Australia and the US - is out now - http://www.crimefactoryzine.com/main/Home.html

I've gor a small essay in there called 'Return to the Scene', where I describe some of the research that went into wriitng Line of Sight.

Ned Kelly Short-list

Very pleased to have been shortlisted for a Ned Kelly, alongside two terrific novelists - PM Newton ( http://pmnewton.blogspot.com/p/old-school.html ) and another South Freo boy - Alan Carter, whose Prime Cut has been doing incredibly well ( http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/1229 ).

Westerly Volume 56 No 1

Late last year I was asked to write the 2010 Fiction Review Essay for the Westerly Journal. I was initially reluctant, as this involved reading some 30-40 Australian novels and short-story collections in the space of about three months, however, looking back it was a positive experience. Not only did I get to read many Australian writers that I might not have otherwise, but many of the novels, in particular, were memorable. My favourite novels of 2010 were Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance and Fiona McGregor's Indelible Ink.

Crime Factory #6 - two reviews of Line of Sight

The excellent Crime Factory has just produced it's most recent issue, #6. As usual, it's a great blend of new crime writing, articles/interviews and reviews of recent crime publications. Issue #6 includes two reviews of Line of Sight (on page 186), and can be found at: http://www.crimefactoryzine.com/main/Home.html - where you'll also be able to find all the previous editions, the CF blog and links to other crime blogs and zines.

ABC 720 Gillo's Bookshelf - June 6 radio broadcast

In late January Gillian O'Shaughnessy kicked off 'Gillo's Bookshelf' (a statewide book-club with some 800 members) with Line of Sight. We did a public event at the ABC studio's in East Perth, in front of one hundred odd invited guests, discussing the research that went into writing the book, and Perth and crime in the 1970's generally. The good news is that ABC 720 is finally ready to play the recorded interview on radio, scheduled for June 6, just following the 1pm news broadcast (and I'll post the audio on this blog shortly after.)

Murderer No More - Colleen Egan, Allen & Unwin, 2010

I was on a panel with Colleen Egan at the 2011 Perth Writers Festival. The panel was chaired by Terri-Ann White and entitled ‘Behind the Police Tape’ – a look at two responses to two major Perth murders, resulting in one ‘fictional’ book (Line of Sight) and the other a work of non-fiction (Colleen’s Murderer no More).

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