From Uber driving to huge book deal: Adrian McKinty's life-changing phone call

Despite awards and acclaim for his crime fiction, the impoverished novelist lost his home and was set to quit – then the phone rangIt was1.30 in the morning in Melbourne and Adrian McKinty had just got home after dropping off his last Uber customer of the night at the airport. His phone rang. It was Shane Salerno, agent to authors including Don Winslow, and it was a call that would pull McKinty into “some major league craziness”, ending in a six-figure English-language book deal and, last week, a seven-figure film deal from Paramount for his forthcoming novel The Chain.“Don told me you’ve given up writing,” said Salerno. McKinty, an award-winning crime novelist, had recently blogged about his decision to quit being an author. Beginning with his debut, Dead I May Well Be, written while he taught high school English in Colorado, and continuing with his award-winning series about Northern Irish detective Sean Duffy, McKinty’s books might have won him prizes and great reviews, but they weren’t making him any money. The family moved from the US to Australia in 2008 because McKinty’s wife, author and academic Leah Garrett, was offered a job there. Now the family had been evicted from the home they’d had lived in for eight years, and he was working as an Uber a cab driver (“the world’s worst,” he says now) and bartending in an attempt to actually bring in some cash.When they were evicted from their home, 'I was thinking to myself, "Oh God Adrian, what have you done with your... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-08 06:00:17 UTC ]

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John Oliver skewers Baltimore Mayor Pugh's Healthy Holly scandal on 'Last Week Tonight'

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[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Acting UMMS chief: Baltimore Mayor Pugh approached medical system for book deal

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[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Baltimore Mayor Pugh to take leave of absence in midst of 'Healthy Holly' book controversy

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[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Baltimore Mayor Pugh apologizes for 'Healthy Holly' deal but admits some books being delivered only now

Mayor Catherine Pugh apologized Thursday for upsetting the people of Baltimore over a book deal with the University of Maryland Medical System, as she for the first time produced evidence that 60,000 of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books have been printed and distributed. But she also said that... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I was paid £12,500 to write my book – and here's why I'm telling you | Alex Holder

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[ The Guardian | 2019-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Aberdeen is the perfect setting for crime fiction

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram eventually pulls a troll's post praising pipe bombs

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[ Engadget | 2018-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Femi Kayode wins Little, Brown Award for crime fiction

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley to leave Radio 2 Drivetime show

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[ The Guardian | 2018-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas snapped up by Quercus

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book by rising Democratic star Kamala Harris coming in 2019

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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