Happy 2010, from a Death Star corridor

To any and all readers of this blog/site, I hope you and yours have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

And, in lieu of any Monoliths, I'll leave you with a picture of me and Matthew, duelling with the lightsabers we got for Christmas (and comped into a Death Star corridor).

And this year, I've been reading...

Today, I finished “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be”, which is the 44th ‘adult’ book I’ve read this year (in addition to 12 Three Investigator books) and, as we tick down towards Christmas, I thought now might be a good time to consider my Top 10s.

I set myself a tough target in 2009, to read 24 books and 12 Three Investigator mysteries. I’ve sailed past that, obviously and it’s been a damned good reading year for it. Since I tend to read in different areas, I’ve separated out the fiction and non-fiction and haven’t completed listings for the comic books or TTI mysteries.

So without further ado, here are my top 20 novels of the year (so far!):

1. Different Skins, by Gary McMahon
2. Chasing The Dead, by Joe Schreiber
3. We All Fall Down, by Simon Wood
4. They (unpublished), by Gary McMahon
5. The Turtle Boy, by Kealan Patrick Burke
6. Promised Land, by Robert B Parker
7. Hugger Mugger, by Robert B Parker
8. Johnny Gruesome, by Greg Lamberson
9. Crimson Orgy, by Austin Williams
10. Tide Of Souls, by Simon Bestwick
11. Stardust, by Robert B Parker
12. The Dare, by John Boyne
13. Vardoger, by Stephen Volk
14. Stories We Could Tell, by Tony Parsons
15. Covenant, by John Everson
16. The Nightwalker, by Thomas Tessier
17. Live Girls, by Ray Garton
18. The Hides, by Kealan Patrick Burke
19. Shrink Wrap, by Robert B Parker
20. A Savage Place, by Robert B Parker

horror - 11 books
crime/thriller - 6 books
drama - 3 books

(note - this was a year of good choices and with less reading volume, several of these books would have easily been my number one choice).

Non-fiction (so far !):

1. Skywalking, by Dale Pollock
2. The Life & Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson
3. On The Road, by Frank Skinner
4. Remember The 80s, by Richard Evans
5. Blondie, by Fred Shruers
6. Once Upon A Galaxy: Making Empire Strikes Back, by Alan Arnold
7. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, by Philip Glenister
8. Friends Like These, by Danny Wallace
9. The Wah-Wah Diaries, by Richard E Grant
10. INXS - Band On The Road, by INXS and Ed St John

Happy Christmas!

It’s a little bit early, but I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone (and their loved ones) who stops by here, however occasionally, my very best wishes for Christmas and all the best for 2010!

Merry Christmas, one and all!

I think "Conjure" is going to work out fine...

Another review for "Conjure", from Matt Fryer at Hellforge. He liked it. And I liked his review: http://matthewfryer.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/conjure-mark-west/

Someone got the Yarmouth references!

Another paying customer review and - wahey! - another positive one (posted at the Ramsey Campbell message-board)! Thanks a lot, Gary Cole-Wilkin!
http://www.knibbworld.com/campbelldiscuss/messages/1/2889.html?1258450888

More "Conjure"-y goodness

More review type goodness, this time from Sam Haine's Book Shop and they were nicely complimentary about me too:

I didn't get to meet Mark unfortunately as he was only at the Con for one day but everyone who mentioned him said he was a good bloke. His book, too, is a good, fast read - it could actually have done with being a bit longer in my opinion, but it's another good 'un.

http://samhainesbookshop.blogspot.com/2009/10/fantasycon-09.html

New Arrival

Congratulations to my kid sister Sarah and her husband Chris, on the safe arrival of their baby daughter Lucy Jane. Mother and baby are both doing very well, Uncle Mark is feeling broody and the Dude is over the moon to have a little cousin.

Me, the Dude and baby Lucy

Highlander's Book Reviews have just reviewed "Conjure". And quite liked it, which is always nice. http://talesfromtheblackabyss.blogspot.com/2009/12/conjure-by-mark-west.html

Woo hoo!

More reviews!

A couple more reviews for “Conjure” this week, from paying customers - and both of them, I’m very happy to say, are positive. Firstly, Jamie - my fan from Tasmania - emailed me and wrote:

"The book's a fine achievement, Mark. It moves along at a crisp pace, has characters the reader can care about, and a nice climax."

That was very nice - then Kim wrote me a lovely long email that included the phrase “Good job, I enjoyed it”. She also posted the first review at Goodreads, which was very nice of her.
Kim’s review at Goodreads.com

My first chapbook...

...is due to be published in November. More details soon.