John’s story RHONDA ON THE HILL is one of ten stories shortlisted for this year’s WOW! award by literary publishers Wordsonthestreet. Final placings and the launch of the anthology will be at an awards ceremony in Galway on Friday 17th June.

Unfortunately John can’t be there as he is scheduled to fly out to Italy that morning.

John’s story, Dancing on Clouds, has been awarded third place in the New Eastbourne Writers’ First National Short Story Competition.

John’s latest book A SOFT HANGING has been shortlisted in this prestigious competition. 

The UK Authors Opening Pages Competition is an internationally renowned annual competition which gives in-depth feedback from up to ten reviewers, with full professional assessment and advice, and publication by the UKA Press. This current year saw a considerably greater number of entries than usual, many of an exceptional standard. So much so that the long list, very highly commended entries and entries showing notable potential, ran to nearly one hundred names.

For details of the shortlisted novels go to:

Recent and Upcoming Diary Dates

Interviews Given By John

STOP PRESS – The readers of Spinetinglers Magazine (USA) have voted Requiems for the Departed the best anthology published in the last year.

It has been said before, that every story has already been told. Maybe so. But if you’ve got the gift of the gab, you can tell the same tale as often as you like and still give it a life of its own every time.

Requiems for the Departed flaunts that gift seventeen times over with top shelf stories from Ken Bruen, Maxim Jakubowski, Stuart Neville, Brian McGilloway, Adrian McKinty, John McAllister, Sam Millar, John Grant, Garry Kilworth, and many more.

The children of Conchobar are back to their old mischievous ways, ancient Celtic royalty, druids and banshees are set loose in the new Irish underbelly with murder and mayhem on their minds.

Edited by Gerard Brennan and Mike Stone, Requiems for the Departed contains seventeen short stories, inspired by Irish mythology, from some of the finest contemporary writers in the business.

PUBLISHED BY MORRIGAN BOOKS 1st JUNE 2010

Anthology by Crime Scene NI and Morrigan Publishers of Sweden

Praise for John’s story: Bog Man

Set in the ancient Celtic past rather than the modern day, [John McAllister's] “Bog Man” takes readers into the culture and conflicts of the people who stuffed the bodies in the bog. Ties in, in that way, with Brian McGilloway’s Bleed a River Deep and Erin Hart’s Lake of Sorrows. (Critical Mick)

McAllister’s the stuff to keep you awake at night (Detectives Beyond Borders)

John McAllister’s ‘Bog Man’, on the other hand, reverses Adrian McKinty’s approach almost entirely: his protagonist is Tarlóir, an enforcer of the peace who goes up against the Morrigan clan in the years immediately following the arrival of St Patrick. McAllister drenches his tale with ghosts, gods and the superstitions of pre-Christian Ireland. In effect, McAllister frames the ancient tale with the modern concept of the police procedural. Where McKinty takes the myth and looks forward, McAllister takes the contemporary form and looks back. Both are equally persuasive. (Crime Always Pays)

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Some of the other writers in the anthology include:

Ken Bruen

Brian McGilloway

Adrian McKinty

Stuart Neville

Arlene Hunt

Sam Millar

Garbhan Downey

Maxim Jakubowski

Garry
Kilworth

Neville
Thompson

John’s story ELEVEN MINUTES, FORTY-SEVEN SECONDS was voted one of the stories the members would most like to read again.

To quote the editor. “Voting was close and this really is an achievement and honour to be chosen. The members in case you were not aware selected twelve stories from July 2007 through to June 2008, inclusive. They were also allowed to select stories from the Christmas Competition.”