Ray Celestin's Blog: with added crappy Goodreads formatting

Hello. I posted a new newsletter this week with a few updates. If you’re not subscribed you can read the web version here.

The CWA has shortlisted Sunset Swing for both the Gold Dagger and the Historical Dagger. I’m absolutely chuffed that the book has been recognised in this way. Many thanks to everyone at the CWA for the honour. Here’s what the CWA’s Gold Dagger judges said:

“A murderous figure from the past re-emerges in the epic closing act of the outstanding City Blues Quartet set in Los Angeles at the end of 1967. A cast of original fictional characters mingle with historic figures on Celestin’s biggest and most evocative canvas yet. This is a book bursting with heart, soul and spirit, at once all-encompassing and intimate, superbly paced and immaculately constructed.”

The post Sunset Swing Shortlisted for the Gold Dagger and the Historical Dagger by the CWA appeared first on Ray Celestin.

Hello. I sent out a newsletter today to let people know that Sunset Swing has been delayed a couple of weeks due to the supply chain debacle.

If you’re subscribed to the mailing list you should probably have received it by now (hopefully).

If you’re not subscribed (or didn’t get it for some reason), you can read the web version here.

The post Newsletter – Sunset Swing – New Publication Date appeared first on Ray Celestin.

Hello. I sent out a newsletter today. If you’re subscribed to the mailing list you should probably have received it by now (hopefully).

If you’re not subscribed (or didn’t get it for some reason), you can read the web version here:

The post Newsletter – August 2021 appeared first on Ray Celestin.

Hello. I sent out a newsletter today for the first times in years. If you’re subscribed to the mailing list you should probably have received it by now (hopefully).

If you’re not subscribed (or didn’t get it for some reason), you can read the web version here:

The post Newsletter – February 2021 appeared first on Ray Celestin.

Massive thank you to Sarah Hughes at ‘The i’ who picked ‘The Mobster’s Lament’ as one of the books of the year. It’s in very esteemed company. The full list is available here:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/books-of-the-year-2019-booker-prize-bernardine-evaristo-political-gossip-christmas-1340931

The post ‘The Mobster’s Lament’ is one of The i Newspaper’s Books of the Year. appeared first on Ray Celestin.

The Mobster’s Lament has been shortlisted for the Amazon Publishing Capital Crime Best Crime Novel of the Year Award. Woohoo!

Absolutely chuffed with this. It looks like the winner will be voted on by visitors to the Capital Crime Festival (making me think Ian Rankin is going to win in a landslide), but as the cliche goes, it’s amazing just to make the shortlist.

Weirdly, I spent a while looking around the festival’s website to try and find a page with details of the award but couldn’t find one, so here’s a feature on the shortlist from CompulsiveReaders.com.

The post The Mobster’s Lament Shortlisted for Crime Novel of the Year appeared first on Ray Celestin.

This is the last of my posts from the research for The Mobster’s Lament, and it’s a fitting one.

The quote is from Leonard Feather’s ‘Inside Bebop’, the first proper book about the new musical movement. It’s got some brilliant quotes in it from Parker himself.

This photo is from much later, in 1950s, and is by William Claxton. The reason this is a good image to end on, is because the kid playing the trumpet in the background is Chet Baker, who may or may not make an appearance in the quartet’s final book…

The post Bird and Chet appeared first on Ray Celestin.

I’ve been in two minds about putting this one up due to the explicit homophobia (and implicit racism) of the quote. It’s from ‘New York Confidential’ the 1940s true crime ‘expose’ that was basically a travel guide for criminals. I’ve posted loads of quotes from the book before so figured for full transparency I’d post up some of the more odious content, hopefully it shows how ludicrous some of the authors’ statements were and are.

At the time this quote was made, 52nd Street was the home of bebop, where you could catch a set from Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, among others. Funny to think this was how some contemporaries characterised a musical revolution.

The photo is from the ever incredible Andreas Feininger.

The post 52nd Street appeared first on Ray Celestin.

“All the roofs are wet
and underneath smoke
that piles softly in
streets, tongues are
on top of each other
mulling over the night.”

Frank O’Hara, ‘Gamin’.

A couple more pics from the 1947 Blizzard. The first one is from ‘Life’, not sure of the photographer. The second is by Harry Harris. I tried a million different ways to match up the Frank O’Hara quote with an image, but I just couldn’t get anything to work, so left them separate.

The post Snowfall appeared first on Ray Celestin.