Charlie Williams profile picture

Charlie Williams

How much is chips?

About Me


I wrote the books DEADFOLK, FAGS AND LAGER, and KING OF THE ROAD. The hero of these books is Royston Blake, a mentally fragile doorman who has been described by the BBC as a "dazzling creation of well-intentioned prejudice and overblown machismo, dripping with dramatic irony, who would rather spare the upholstery of his 2.8i Ford Capri than ferry a wounded mate to hospital". Sounds alright to me. I'd add that he's obsessed with Rocky III, Clint Eastwood, Elvis and (for a while) Minder. There is a bit more about him down there, in the "books" section.
These books are published by Serpent's Tail in the UK and US, and there are also various foreign editions including Italy ( MORTACCI out from Baldini Castoldi), Spain ( GENTE MUERTA from Factoria de Ideas), France ( LES ALLONGÉS from Gallimard/Série Noire) and Russia (AST/Tough Press, no idea about this). Why all the translations? I can only assume that there are shit towns from which you cannot escape in these countries too. And mentally fragile doormen.
Hopefully, wherever you are, you will be able to locate the books if you want to. If not, there's always Amazon.co.uk (or USA ). Or drop me a line if you're still stuck. Or you could just buy The Da Vinci Code. Or Captain Correlli's Mandolin.
I was raised in Worcester and still live (near) there. To the untrained eye this is an unassuming town in the Midlands, but in reality it is the battleground for the ongoing war that is waged between Good and Evil (every Saturday night). In the late 15th century Hieronymous Bosch visited the area and managed to tap off with a local wench whilst strolling in sunny Cripplegate Park. Later on he puked on the dancefloor at Tramps and was thrown out, then got sucked into the eternal melee of fists, foreheads, and kebabs that is Angel Place. These experiences inspired him to paint the left ("Heaven") and right ("Hell") wings of The Garden of Earthly Delights. (The central panel is Milton Keynes.) Anyway, Worcester seems to be the inspiration for virtually everything I write, including the three aforementioned novels. I think I want to simultaneously destroy this town and declare it the glittering centre of the universe.
Check my website for more info, if you care to: charliewilliams.net .
You are invited to subscribe to Charlie's blog

My Interests

Books, films, songs, bonfires, chainsaws, driving, chopping things down, playing the mandolin, walking my dogs, scary things, pubs, pizza, beer, whisky, the look on a person's face after they drop their mobile phone and realise it's fucked, book/record tokens, the Malvern Hills, France, Canterbury, San Sebastian, marzipan...

I'd like to meet:

Les Dawson

Music:

Maximo Park, Mansun, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Bowie, Nick Drake, Nick Cave, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, The Pogues, Johnny Cash, Guns n Roses, Placebo, Robert Johnson, Eric Bibb, The Smiths, Elvis...

Movies:

The Exorcist, The Wicker Man, An American Werewolf in London, Jacob's Ladder, Pulp Fiction, Dead Man's Shoes, Scarface, A Clockwork Orange, The Big Lebowski, Calvaire, Stalker, Lost Highway, Seven, Eraserhead, Nightmare Alley...

Television:

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Books:

I did a list of my top ten reads a while back. Also there are these that I wrote myself:
Deadfolk
"Makes the insipid heroes of lad lit look like a bunch of big girls' blouses. The more politically correct among you can read this as social comment, the rest can just enjoy the ride." - The Guardian
Fags and Lager
"300-odd pages of squalor, f-, s- and c- words, extreme violence and drugs, the odd hint of perversity, monstrous sly humour and all with no redeeming social message whatsoever. Whilst through it all strides the probing intelligence of Royston Blake. What more could you possibly want?" - Tangled Web
King of the Road
"Royston Blake is a boastful, aggressive, foul-mouthed, psychopathic hard-man of the utmost political incorrectness, a failure at everything he does but an indomitable believer in his own cleverness and sex appeal. He’s also a careless multiple killer (though insistent that it was never his fault). In short, a thoroughly unpleasant and dislikeable character. Why, then — this is a great mystery — is it so enjoyable to read about him?" - The Times

Heroes:



Also Jim Thompson, Bernard Hopkins, Roger Bannister, Charles Willeford, Bill Hicks

My Blog

Story Sale

Top news: I have sold a story to the excellent British crime fiction mag Crimewave. This is published by TTA Press, also responsible for the renowned horror/slipstream mag The Third Alternative (now k...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Thu, 31 May 2007 03:36:00 PST

Nothing you ain't seen before, but...

...see it again: ...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Tue, 22 May 2007 04:14:00 PST

NAKED WRITING: A Manifesto

I admire writers who write with their balls out. Your balls, they are not those things down your pants. They are the things that allow you to write from within, and not filter it through some theoreti...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Mon, 14 May 2007 06:58:00 PST

Out in the midday sun

Got a bit bored watching the overly technical boxing display of Floyd Mayweather Junior last weekend? Here's yer antidote! ...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Fri, 11 May 2007 01:17:00 PST

A fighter

Rest in peace Chico Corrales.Corrales vs Castillo I R10 Add to My Profile | More Videos...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Wed, 09 May 2007 08:43:00 PST

Mr Lenin, awaken the boy

Hey, me here. Been a bit quiet here of late. Here are three random facts for you: 1. The appendices to Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's FROM HELL take much longer to read than the novel itself. 2. Ther...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Tue, 08 May 2007 06:37:00 PST

Meet the Flashers

Please check the new anthology THE FLASH, edited by Peter Wild, published by Social Disease and featuring a story by myself (amongst many others much more worthy - see below). The title refers to the ...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 02:09:00 PST

The people

"I tell you what made us what we were - we had this wonderful feeling that we were still part of the people. Every street in England had a footballer living in it. Not any more. They're behind big bar...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:00:00 PST

St George's Day...

...a celebration of all things English. A time to reflect upon and appreciate our food, our culture, our values... our green and pleasant land. A feast upon which we embrace our national identity and ...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:34:00 PST

Banksy

As a former graffiti "artist", I'm with the authorities on this. Graffiti art is transient, and the most you can hope for is that a lot of people will see your stuff before it gets painted over. Banks...
Posted by Charlie Williams on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:04:00 PST