I’ve been wanting to feature Paul D. Brazill for some time now, and it’s finally come together.
Punk Fiction – a short fiction sampler, is Brazill’s latest work featuring: A Case Of Noir, Too Many Crooks, Shots In The Dark and A Round Of Shots. All jammed into a collection of singular entertainment.
In true Brazill style you’ll read characters of detail and grit, with the humour, intensity, and deeply flawed perspectives of the hopeful and disenchanted. And you’ll laugh – out loud – you will laugh. You’re welcome.
As the creator of Punk Noir Magazine, Brazill’s website became home for the wandering noir writers of flash fiction and short stories, mine included. The site passed into the capable hands of Stephen J. Golds and B.F. Jones in 2021, and my second flash fiction appeared there in December (Note to writers: submissions by invitation only.)
Here’s the interview with Paul, and for those puzzling over TEFL that’s Teaching English as a Foreign Language. For those of us in Canada it’s ESL (English as a Second Language.)
Once Upon A Crime … Paul D. Brazill
I was born in Hartlepool, England, and now live in Bydgoszcz, Poland. I’ve worked in a second-hand record shop and a toy shop. I once had a job on a government training scheme updating ordnance survey maps though it wasn’t as glamourous as it sounds. I’ve been TEFL teaching for more than a decade, it seems, and still seem to be getting away with it.
I played bass in a couple of bands in the early ‘80s – Halcyon Days & Oceans 11 – but then, didn’t everyone? I also did a screenwriting course in the ‘90s and wrote an actual screenplay. I sent it to ‘a well-known film production company’ but they never got back to me. It was the only copy I had of the bloody thing but I never bothered to ask for it back. Hollywood trundles on without me.
After I discovered online flash fiction sites – like SIX SENTENCES and A TWIST OF NOIR, I decided to have a go myself, and I wrote enough to bluff people into thinking I’m really a writer – the only crime is getting caught! I breath more than I write, however, so I’m more of a breather, really. I hope never to get breather’s block.
My books include Punk Fiction, The Last Laugh, Guns Of Brixton, and Gumshoe Blues. My writing has, quite remarkably, been translated into Italian, Polish, Finnish, German and Slovene. Which is nice.
I’ve had stories published in various magazines and anthologies, including The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime 8, 10 and 11, alongside proper writers like Ian Rankin and Lee Child. I KNOW!
I’m sure I’ve nabbed a lot of my, ahem, oeuvre from The Lavender Hill Mob, Damon Runyon, Tony Hancock, Charles Bukowski, Charles Wilford, Charlie Higson – what a bunch of Charlies! And especially people I know or have known, and stories I’ve heard, or misheard.
I always wanted to write odd little stories about odd little people, which is what the above do. I’m more interested in character actors than matinee idols and I enjoy wrting, for the most part. It’s not an unpleasant experience. It’s not exactly working down a mine, is it? It’s no great responsibility. The world won’t end if I write or if I don’t. Which is nice. I’ve never had unrealistic expectations so it’s all a bonus.
If you want a taste of my stuff, you could start with Punk Fiction, which is a short fiction sampler. It includes A Case Of Noir, Too Many Crooks, Shots In The Dark and A Round Of Shots. Two novellas and two short story collections packed together in one handy, pocket-sized collection. Depending on the size of your pockets, like. Can’t fall off! Indeed, PUNK FICTION is a veritable cornucopia of short stories, flash fiction, pulp fiction, social realism, supernatural noir, Brit Grit, and black comedy.
I spent far too much time online and I even have a Substack site and a LinkedIn page’
Paul D. Brazill esq. | Paul D. Brazill | Substack
And I intend to spend more time at Twitter, now that Elton John has bought it. It’s like a candle in the wind, it really is. Thanks for having me, June Lorraine!
~ June Lorraine Roberts
Murder in Common is a Feedspot Top 100 Crime Novel Website
4 responses to “Paul D. Brazill: Punk Fiction +Bonus Interview”
I really like the notion of writing odd little stories about odd little people. Good interview!
Paul is really good at that Laurie 🙂
Fun interview! I’m not familiar with Brazill’s work. It sounds like Punk Fiction would be a good place to start.
Go for it, or Gumshoe Blues, which revolves around a specific character, PI Peter Ord. Thanks for dropping by 🙂