about me

I was born in New Orleans, grew up in California, and I'm currently living in Spain.

I've been published in ezines like Word Riot, 3AM Magazine and Smokebox, as well as some alternative weekly newspapers. My first book, The Bedroom Revolutionary, is self-published and also available online for free. I just finished a detective series, which will also be self-published in the coming months (most of the stories have already been published in ezines and newspapers).

At the moment I am working on a novella.

favourite books

I just finished reading Dashiell Hammet's entire published output and loved his raw, stripped down style. For me it was much more inspiring than anything I've read by Hemingway, and it made me wonder if one was influenced by the other. Of Hammett's works, Red Harvest and the Maltese Falcon, plus his collected Continental OP stories really blew me away. I'm starting with Raymond Chandler, and have really enjoyed The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye, as well as several of his short stories and his long essay on mystery writing.

I've been reading all the philosophy I can get my hands on, from Plato to Popper. My favorite stylists so far are Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and the philosophy I most want to follow is Benedict Spinoza's - though I can't help agreeing with a lot of what Machiavelli and Nietzsche said. I am reading Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, and am finding it very inspiring.

I can't say I am into that much modern literature, but I just read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and enjoyed it. As far as contemporary writers go - off the top of my head - Ellis and Houellebecq are the ones that speak to me the most. There's also TC Boyle and JG Ballard - they're on to something too.

my websites

http://andrewminh.com     http://unnaturalhabitat.com