About Derek
Derek Farrell has, since childhood, told stories.
Of course, back then they were called lies, and usually got him in to trouble, but nowadays his stories, humorous poetry and song lyrics are entertaining people from Kansas to Crawley.
Derek grew up in a small terrace close to the Guinness brewery in Dublin’s Liberties neighbourhood, where the smell of roasting hops alternated with the yeasty fermentation of the mash, and the cry of the seagulls was interrupted occasionally by the snorting of an escaped cow on the rampage from the abattoir at the bottom of the street.
To date, Derek has completed three novels. His latest novel is a contemporary Cosy-Noir mystery story called Death of a Diva. The book features his wonderfully human detective Danny Bird, and it’s been described as “Like The Thin Man meets Will & Grace via Ab Fab. In Bermondsey.”
Derek’s literary heroes include Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, Lawrence Block, Joe Keenan, Steven Saylor, Scott Fitzgerald, Jonathan Harvey, Doctor Seuss and anyone who actually drags their arse to the desk and writes, Goddammit!
His jobs have included: Burger dresser, Bank teller, David Bowie's paperboy, and eventually Investment Banker on the 80th floor of the World Trade Centre. Time in high finance, has given him an opportunity to observe people, to understand the persuasive power of language and to develop an insight into the workings of the criminal mind, whilst allowing him to live and work in Hong Kong, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Prague and London.
And all the time, he’s been telling stories.
You should get to know him.
Twitter: @derekifarrell
Here are my most recent posts
by Derek | Dec 13, 2015 | Food
When I was a child – without fail – November smelled of cinnamon, nutmeg, jewel-bright candied carbuncles of citrus peel, and rich, shiny brandy. My mother baked Christmas cakes then for a mid-December delivery. It was a skill she’d acquired at a women’s club in the...
by Derek | Dec 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
Those lovely people at Byte The Book have posted a piece I’ve written about My journey to Publication and my thoughts on Networking. Check it out here and – if you’re at all interested in publication, seriously consider joining Byte. Worth every...
by Derek | Nov 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
As with all Gillian Flynn stories, it’s extremely difficult to discuss the plot of this without giving away spoilers. Suffice to say that, in this story, nobody and nothing is what they seem. It purports to be a ghost story, but even that is uncertain. It...
by Derek | Oct 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
Lindsey Davis first novel was published in 1989, after a historical romance she’d written was rejected. The research she’d done for “The Course of Honour,” the (then) unpublished romance set in the court of Vespasian played on her mind, resulted in her creation of...
by Derek | Oct 3, 2015 | Reading
Lawrence Block has been writing since God was in his heaven and Kennedy in the White House. That he’s had an esteemed career goes without saying. He’s written slight pulpy books (After the First Death), Bigger City-wide Blockbusters (the counterintuitively named Small...