Simon Maltman Blogs

I’m pleased to share about my new book release,  along with an album of music.  Here’s all the blurby stuff! - Book & Album    Short Grift  In the world of the Short Grift, the plans are desperate, the criminals are questionable, and the outcome is usually messy. Simon Maltman delivers a masterclass in modern noir, blending razor-sharp crime fiction with a dark, cynical wit that cuts right to the bone. This collection contains conflicted grifters, serial killer grifters, zombie grifters, and even Donald Trump. Link to tie-in album: https://distrokid.com/ hyperfollow/simonmaltman/ short-grift “An excellent author of crime fiction… if this soundtrack is anything to go by the stories should be superb.” Andy Cairns Therapy? Recent Praise: “A One Man Crime-Wave” The Sunday World “Maltman executes a pitch-perfect crime thriller.” Bristol Noir “A terrifically gritty thriller.” Jo Spain “Lean prose, fast paced action and stout black humour” Brian McGilloway Simon Ma...

So for the craic I released a new album this week!  There’s going to be a tie in short story collection out later in the year too.  Here’s a link to all the streamers-  Listen

Playlist for THE MARK I thought I'd put together a playlist of some of the songs mentioned in the novel. Music always ends up being a big part of my books- I can't really help myself. There's quite a mix on here. Anyway- here are some cracker tunes to enjoy- YOUTUBE PLAYLIST ORDER 'THE MARK'

Isolation Song 2! I enjoyed quickly writing and recording this over the last day- inbetween parenting and housework!- bit of a rockier one... Order Here

Gotta pass the time somehow! I've been enjoying working on some music in the evenings. I wonder what the inspiration is?! I haven't managed to get in the head space for any writing but this has been fun anyway. Amazon Kindle

Here are just a few of my favourite books, TV, music and movies from this year.     What were your faves from 2019? Books What You Did- Claire McGowan A  compelling family mystery with plenty of dark secrets and twists The Chain- Adrian McKinty The behemoth that relaunched McKinty's career charting a terrifying child kidnapping network  An Eye for a Eye- Paul Heatley A funny and dark novella set in a seedy underworld in North England     (As usual I also read a load of books that weren't out this year. I read Misery for the first time- def my best read of the year! I also really enjoyed Mr Mercedes by King. I delved deeper into Lawrence Block's Scudder books- they have quickly become one of my top crime series) Movies Once Upon a Time in Hollywood My film of the year- he absolutely nailed it- nostalgic, atmospheric, thrilling and great fun The Irishman Perhaps best watched in a few sittings due to i...

Here are a few of the tunes/ artists that are mentioned in my new book. I've created a playlist of them in You Tube that you can view all of through the link at the bottom.  Also, here is the book's namesake by the incredible Lee Morgan. I loved the name and the attributes of the snake being deadly and also able to hide in plain sight. I just thought- 'I'm having that title!' Playlist

Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler,  James Ellroy... and Mark Sandman  In this blog post I get to write about two of my favourite things; Crime Fiction and the band Morphine. The three writers above were three of Mark Sandman's pulp favourites. Morphine's bluesy, swampy low rock is the perfect accompaniment to any of these hardboiled novelists. This style of writing was a big influence on his own songwriting. They both contain a direct, vivid and often somewhat nihilistic tone. Many of Sandman's characters form his songs could have walked off the pages of say The Getaway or The Long Goodbye . Sometimes during interviews, Sandman would go off on a tangent and just want to start discussing a particular Jim Thompson novel. He loved crime fiction and shared his passion with friends and journalists alike.  He appeared to find something in noir that moved him, just as his hero James Ellroy had-  "I love thinking about American history, thinking ...

-There are so many to choose from- you could do a top 100 with Nick Cave alone! -Here are my faves- what are yours? 5. Mack the Knife Bobby Darin "Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth dear."  You can trace versions of the song back to 1928, but the most well known versions would be from Bobby Darin or Frank Sinatra. It's a dark tale and it is really an unusual song to have been such a hit over the years. Check out the gravelly and stripped down Mark Lanegan cut from his Imitations album. 4. San Quentin Johnny Cash "I think I understand a little bit how you feel about some things, It's none of my business how you feel about some other things, And I don't give a damn about how you feel about some other things." So said Cash when introducing his new song to the world and to the inmates within San Quentin. This is my pick over the likes of Folsom Prison Blues , mostly because of this recording. You can hear the tension and the electric...

If you fancy a wee listen just click   here