ST. HELIER, JERSEY, October 27, 2012 (Press-News.org) Channel Islands imprint, Liberation Publishing, is publishing its first novel, "Black Art" by Vic Tanner Davy, on 1 November 2012. A crime thriller, featuring the world's first female-to-male transsexual detective, it is about a genealogist's attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the disappearance of the grandmother of a British actress called Helen Valentine.
The novel is set in the present day, but its protagonist, Arty Shaw, is a genealogist who is asked to research the disappearance of Kay Marett in 1942 so, inevitably, there is an historical element to the story too. Vic has always been interested in the islands' history. "The Channel Islands' unique relationship to the British crown has shaped their history. At no point in time was this starker than during the Second World War. The islands' occupation by German forces meant that islanders had to make choices that no one else in the British Isles had to make. The novel is about one islander's choice and the repercussions that choice has for generations of her family."
Written as a hard-boiled, detective novel from the golden age, Vic chose a style that enabled Arty Shaw to express his views in colourful ways. "I love the cynical asides that the hero always makes in noir novels. There is a black humour to it that serves to show the reader he's really good guy, even though the needle of his moral compass is slightly battered and his view of the world somewhat jaded. If you didn't have those insights, he could appear to be just a gun-toting, wise-cracking thug. Because Arty is an unusual choice for a hero, I wanted to use that humour to get the reader on his side."
Arty certainly is an unusual choice for a hero. He is transsexual. Born female, he now lives as a man. Vic believes that Arty may be the world's first female-to-male detective. "But, this shouldn't put anyone off! It was important to me to write the novel so that the reader forgets that Arty is trans. He is just a regular guy. His sex-change is no more relevant to the plot than the fact that he drives an old Dodge." So, why make that choice? "There have been numerous television programmes, newspaper and magazine articles, and so-called documentaries about transsexuals in recent years that have used sensationalist tactics to attract audiences. I find the way that they use language to elicit a particular audience reaction to their subject offensive. The fact that someone has changed sex is still universally headlined in shock-horror terms. Arty is an attempt to introduce a rounded, interesting character to the mainstream who happens to be trans."
Although the novel deals with some big themes, not least of which is Holocaust denial, Vic says that the novel's primary purpose is to be enjoyable. "I don't think reading should be a chore. If you enjoy what you read, it has more impact. "Black Art" deals with some important issues, but I am not setting out to lecture anyone. At the end of the day, it is a work of fiction so writing a good story that engages the reader is the most important thing for me."
Liberation Publishing is the imprint responsible for publishing the work of Vic Tanner Davy. For further information, please contact admin@liberationpublishing.co.uk.
Website: http://www.liberationpublishing.co.uk
World's First Female-to-Male Detective Takes a Bow
Channel Islands imprint, Liberation Publishing, is publishing its first novel, "Black Art" by Vic Tanner Davy, on 1 November 2012; a crime thriller, featuring the world's first female-to-male transsexual detective
2012-10-27
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Measuring molecules with the naked eye
2012-10-26
When someone develops liver cancer, the disease introduces a very subtle difference to their bloodstream, increasing the concentration of a particular molecule by just 10 parts per billion.
That small shift is difficult to detect without sophisticated lab equipment – but perhaps not for long. A new "lab on a chip" designed by Brigham Young University professor Adam Woolley and his students reveals the presence of ultra-low concentrations of a target molecule.
As the BYU researchers report in the journal Analytical Chemistry, their experiments detected as little as a ...
Elevated formaldehyde levels found in day care centers
2012-10-26
Berkeley — A new, comprehensive survey of day care centers by University of California, Berkeley, researchers found that, overall, the environmental quality in child care settings was similar to other indoor environments, but that levels of formaldehyde and several other contaminants exceeded state health guidelines. Cleaning- and sanitizing-related chemicals were also present in the air, and sometimes at higher levels, than in comparable studies on homes.
The study, funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), is the first detailed analysis of environmental contaminants ...
Efforts to mitigate climate change must target energy efficiency
2012-10-26
Much more must be done to develop energy efficient cars, buildings and domestic appliances to address climate change – according to new research from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.
A report published today in Nature Climate Change shows that twice as much effort is being spent on developing energy supply technologies - such as new power stations - than is spent on improving the efficiency with which energy is used.
The research shows that efficient end-use technologies have the potential to contribute large emission ...
Watching the cogwheels of the biological clock in living cells
2012-10-26
Our master circadian clock resides in a small group of about 10'000 neurons in the brain, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. However, similar clocks are ticking in nearly all cells of the body, as demonstrated by the group of Ueli Schibler, professor at the Department of Molecular Biology of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The molecular mechanisms of circadian clocks can thus be studied outside of the animals, in cultured cells.
A system to study gene regulation live in single cells
"Given the important role of the DBP protein in the regulation of detoxifying ...
Researchers decipher the mecanism of membrane fission
2012-10-26
A cell is composed of a nucleus which encloses its genetic information and the cytoplasm which is itself confined by an external membrane separating the cell from the outside world. The impermeability of the membrane and its ability to repair itself protect the cell from its environment. Although this membrane resistance is fundamental to the survival of the cell, the cell also needs to let in particles necessary for its proper functioning. The mechanism by which a small region of the cytoplasmic membrane invaginates to form a bud that will then be sectioned off to let ...
Salk study finds diabetes raises levels of proteins linked to Alzheimer's features
2012-10-26
Growing evidence suggests that there may be a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological mechanisms by which diabetes impacts brain function and cognition are not fully understood. In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show, for the first time, that diabetes enhances the development of aging features that may underlie early pathological events in Alzheimer's.
Specifically, the Salk team found increases in two hallmarks of Alzheimer's-accumulations of amyloid beta (Abeta) and tau protein-in ...
Footwear forensics
2012-10-26
A new computer algorithm can analyze the footwear marks left at a crime scene according to clusters of footwear types, makes and tread patterns even if the imprint recorded by crime scene investigators is distorted or only a partial print.
Footwear marks are found at crime scenes much more commonly than fingerprints, writes a team from the University at Buffalo, New York, in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Granular Computing, Rough Sets and Intelligent Systems. They point out that while footprints are common they are often left unused by forensic scientists ...
'NHS should replace traditional autopsies with non-invasive alternative'
2012-10-26
The NHS should implement a non-invasive alternative to autopsies, according to a Department of Health-commissioned report by leading UK experts within the field of post-mortem cross-sectional imaging.
The NHS Implementation Sub-Group of the Department of Health's Post Mortem, Forensic and Disaster Imaging Group (PMFDI) has called on the NHS to adopt post-mortem cross-sectional imaging for as an adjunct to, and under the right circumstances, a replacement for autopsies.
The group, chaired by Professor Guy Rutty, Chief Forensic Pathologist to the East Midlands Forensic ...
Media and content digitization benefits consumers, but revenues lag behind
2012-10-26
Digital spending - the acquisition of media products in digital format - tripled from 2006 to 2010 worldwide, with the recording music sector now achieving 30% of its global sales in the digital market. The digital success of the music sector contrasts other media and content industries, which are moving at a slower pace towards digital with distribution. Only 6% of film/video, newspapers, magazines and book sales were digital, according to the Joint Research Centre's (JRC) report on "The media and content industries. A quantitative overview", which represents an important ...
New options for ease and accuracy in extraction of rare cells or separating blood
2012-10-26
At the Sixteenth International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS) to be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1, in Okinawa, Japan, University of Cincinnati researchers will present four papers, including one detailing improvements in rare cell isolation and one detailing improvements, in terms of cost and time, of common blood tests.
Ian Papautsky, associate professor in UC's School of Electronic and Computing Systems (SECS), part of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and a UC team are leading these research efforts.
In a paper titled ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Destination Earth digital twin to improve AI climate and weather predictions
Late-breaking study finds comparable long-term survival between two leading multi-arterial CABG strategies
Lymph node examination should be expanded to accurately assess cancer spread in patients with lung cancer
Study examines prediction of surgical risk in growing population of adults with congenital heart disease
Novel radiation therapy QA method: Monte Carlo simulation meets deep learning for fast, accurate epid transmission dose generation
A 100-fold leap into the unknown: a new search for muonium conversion into antimuonium
A new approach to chiral α-amino acid synthesis - photo-driven nitrogen heterocyclic carbene catalyzed highly enantioselective radical α-amino esterification
Physics-defying discovery sheds new light on how cells move
Institute for Data Science in Oncology announces new focus-area lead for advancing data science to reduce public cancer burden
Mapping the urban breath
Waste neem seeds become high-performance heat batteries for clean energy storage
Scientists map the “physical genome” of biochar to guide next generation carbon materials
Mobile ‘endoscopy on wheels’ brings lifesaving GI care to rural South Africa
Taming tumor chaos: Brown University Health researchers uncover key to improving glioblastoma treatment
Researchers enable microorganisms to build molecules with light
Laws to keep guns away from distressed individuals reduce suicides
Study shows how local business benefits from city services
RNA therapy may be a solution for infant hydrocephalus
Global Virus Network statement on Nipah virus outbreak
A new molecular atlas of tau enables precision diagnostics and drug targeting across neurodegenerative diseases
Trends in US live births by race and ethnicity, 2016-2024
Sex and all-cause mortality in the US, 1999 to 2019
Nasal vaccine combats bird flu infection in rodents
Sepsis study IDs simple ways to save lives in Africa
“Go Red. Shop with Heart.” to save women’s lives and support heart health this February
Korea University College of Medicine successfully concludes the 2025 Lee Jong-Wook Fellowship on Infectious Disease Specialists Program
Girls are happiest at school – for good reasons
Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine discover genetic ancestry is a critical component of assessing head and neck cancerous tumors
Can desert sand be used to build houses and roads?
New species of ladybird beetle discovered on Kyushu University campus
[Press-News.org] World's First Female-to-Male Detective Takes a BowChannel Islands imprint, Liberation Publishing, is publishing its first novel, "Black Art" by Vic Tanner Davy, on 1 November 2012; a crime thriller, featuring the world's first female-to-male transsexual detective