Once I had secured Leone Ross’s wonderful story, ‘The Woman Who Lived in a Restaurant’, through a combination of my ceaseless badgering, Leone’s lateral thinking and McSweeney’s generous flexibility (see previous post), the search was on for a companion story and I didn’t have far to look. John D Rutter, who had bought several Nightjars (always a good start – funny how many writers fail to grasp this) and written saying how he really wanted to be published in the series (not a bad next move), sent me some stories. All of them were good. Two of them felt like possible Nightjars. And one of those was the irresistible ‘Last Christmas’.
My thanks to Neil Ross, who contributed the beautiful illustration that adorns his daughter Leone’s chapbook, and to David Gaffney and Sarah-Clare Conlon, who modelled for John’s cover. Thanks also to Ros Sales, who sat for an unused set of pictures for the same title. Who knew that the camera on an iPhone 5 is not quite up to scratch for a Nightjar cover? Well, John Oakey, my generous, long-suffering and extremely talented designer – he knew. Thanks to him, as ever. And to Claire Dean, who maintains this website. Without her kind assistance I would struggle even harder to sell what we publish.
Now, it’s over to you. For the time being, Nightjar continues. The spring 2016 titles are already in place and will be announced in due course.
My thanks to Neil Ross, who contributed the beautiful illustration that adorns his daughter Leone’s chapbook, and to David Gaffney and Sarah-Clare Conlon, who modelled for John’s cover. Thanks also to Ros Sales, who sat for an unused set of pictures for the same title. Who knew that the camera on an iPhone 5 is not quite up to scratch for a Nightjar cover? Well, John Oakey, my generous, long-suffering and extremely talented designer – he knew. Thanks to him, as ever. And to Claire Dean, who maintains this website. Without her kind assistance I would struggle even harder to sell what we publish.
Now, it’s over to you. For the time being, Nightjar continues. The spring 2016 titles are already in place and will be announced in due course.