“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” John Liam Shea

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
I would most have liked to have written Seamus Scanlon’s AS CLOSE AS YOU’LL EVER BE. A brilliant collection of short stories that surprise the snot out of you time and time again. Brutal and entertaining.

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
I would most liked to have been Lady Chatterley’s lover. Lucky bastard.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
I read Sports Illustrated from front to back. Even the “Faces in the Crowd.” I’m a sports junkie at heart.

Most satisfying writing moment?
Without question, holding my published novel for the first time. Akin to having a child. A child with an ISBN number.

If you could recommend one Irish crime novel, what would it be?
THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS by Ken Bruen.

What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Ken Bruen is very cinematic. Surprising then that more of his novels have not been made into movies. Only a matter of time, I suppose.

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst: the notoriety and adulation of tens. The best: everyone buys you pens for Christmas.

The pitch for your next book is …?
Possibly going back to a novel that was written a few years ago but was never published. A novel about the birth of my son. Redoing it and seeing how it flies.

Who are you reading right now?
Harper Lee. Her one and only. With my eighth grade Literature class.As brilliant and poignant today as it was when it was released.

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
Write. Can’t make any money reading.

The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Funny, smooth, stylized.

CUT AND RUN IN THE BRONX by John Liam Shea is published by Seven Towers.