TONY BLACK

  New painting available, Walking Among the Tombstones, for sales email Tonester1982 (at) tutamail.com      

The Last Tiger was written in Australia, where I was working as a reporter on a local daily newspaper at the time. I wasn't looking to write an historical novel, and certainly my agent wasn't looking for one, because she hated it. In fact, she hated it so much that she actually banned me from showing it to my editor at Penguin Random House.       The book became a peculiarity after my Gus Dury crime series was published. I kept talking about it on the road, because the story of the Tassie Tiger has always fascinated me. Eventually, when I was out of contract, and had left the agent in question, I realised I still had the Tiger manuscript gathering dust under my bed.      The book found its home at the brilliant, but now sadly demised, Glasgow publisher, Cargo. I wonder if the Tiger's fate struck a chord with the Cargo staff at the time? Both are now long gone, Cargo seemed to go under just as The Last Tiger was coming runner-up in Not The Booker Prize (it won by a long shot

The 10th Anniversary Edition of The Last Tiger, about a young boy who befriends the last of the species, is available now for nowt on Amazon . 

  Pressing on with the loosening of the style. If you like this one, get in touch at: Tonester1982 (at) Tutamail.com

 

  I've been trying to loosen off the style a fair bit recently, so quite pleased that I've managed to produce something I think's worth putting out there.   My wife's convinced this is the late William McIlvanney, and I can see the similarities, but I don't work from source materials like photos -- it's all in my head -- so I guess we'll never know.  It's a big yin (if not The Big Man) at 22 x 36 inches, not framed yet, but will look imposing when it is. All queries, as ever: Tonester1982 (at) Tutamail.com