Mostly via Amazon, I have ordered altogether 22 titles called “Killing time”. Just 5 have already arrived. The pile is growing slowly.
Browsed and read Bruce Jackson‘s great b&w 1977 photo book about the Arkansas penitentiary, which in its last part documents voices / tales of some of the prisoners, and also, ‘correctional officers’.
Last night, I started to read Frank Tallis‘ lean, well-crafted novel – a text that skillfully hints on strange things that have already happened and will be revealed in due time, without being too obvious about it. The colloquial tone of dialogue is spot-on, as I remember it from my time in the UK.
Yesterday, I wrote to all authors (sometimes actual letters c/o their American publishers) to request permission for using sentences of their books. Four authors have already answered – no objections so far. Which is good news.
I found out that some of the authors are dead:
- Sandy Fawkes (whose “Killing time” was later released as Natural born killer – there is a good a obituary in the Telegraph)
- William S. Brady (real name: Angus Wells or John Harvey – in the latter case, Brady is not dead at all)
- Murray Smith (but I am not sure it is this Murray Smith, who is somehow connected to the film Trainspotting, though he’s not the author of the book on which the film was based (that was Irvine Welsh) – there may be a mix-up of names here
- Donald Westlake (his son Paul has set up a site for Westlake sen.)
For some, such as Murray Smith, it will be difficult to get clearance. Not sure how to proceed in these cases. Go to the trouble of tracking down the caretakes / heirs?