A few months back, I published my fourth novel as an ebook at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I'm very excited about it and honestly think this is my best work yet.
The book is intended as a tribute to Cornell Woolrich, who more or less invented the noir genre, and at the same time an attempt to explore the very meaning of the term. After all, noir is, by definition, dark. A number of authors, however, lighten their narratives in order to achieve better sales and attract more readers. Their protagonists, no matter how tough they initially appear, usually prove to be decent law abiding citizens caught in circumstances beyond their control. In contrast, I've chosen to tell my story from the point of view of a violent drug user with few, if any, redeeming features. My intent was not to make the character sympathetic but compelling. If a monster, he is not a cardboard villain but rather a living breathing human being tormented by his failings while unable to break free of them.
The book is intended as a tribute to Cornell Woolrich, who more or less invented the noir genre, and at the same time an attempt to explore the very meaning of the term. After all, noir is, by definition, dark. A number of authors, however, lighten their narratives in order to achieve better sales and attract more readers. Their protagonists, no matter how tough they initially appear, usually prove to be decent law abiding citizens caught in circumstances beyond their control. In contrast, I've chosen to tell my story from the point of view of a violent drug user with few, if any, redeeming features. My intent was not to make the character sympathetic but compelling. If a monster, he is not a cardboard villain but rather a living breathing human being tormented by his failings while unable to break free of them.
The Blue Hours is set in New York City in 1970, long before gentrification, when the town was still gritty and crime ridden. It tells of a violent junkie, just released from jail, who wakes one morning in an East Village tenement to find himself holding a smoking gun and sitting beside a corpse. With the police relentlessly pursuing him, he desperately tries to find the one witness who can tell him what really happened.
In addition to writing the text, I shot the cover photo on infrared film and then printed the negative in a wet darkroom. I also designed the book's cover in Photoshop.
In addition to writing the text, I shot the cover photo on infrared film and then printed the negative in a wet darkroom. I also designed the book's cover in Photoshop.
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