Curious Art+ Dark Comedy Fiction
Art: Ink & Pencil drawings +
Books: Novels and Short Stories
for Grown-Ups
Welcome to my World
About the Author/Artist
Adrian Baldwin is
Adrian Baldwin is a Mancunian currently living and working in Wales. Back in the '90s, he wrote for various TV shows/personalities: Hale & Pace, Clive Anderson, Brian Conley, Paul McKenna, Smith & Jones, Rory Bremner. Wooo, get him!
After that he wrote three screenplays, one of which received generous financial backing from the Film Agency for Wales. Then along came the global recession to firmly kick the UK Film industry in the nuts. What a bummer!
Not to be outdone, he turned to novel writing – which had always been his real dream – and, in particular, a genre he feels is often overlooked; a genre he has always been a fan of: Dark Comedy (Horror's weird cousin). Click over to the BOOKS tab for details.
As a young lad, Adrian grew up watching Monty Python and reading the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Little wonder then - perhaps it was inevitable - that all his stories (dark comedies for grown-ups) would turn out to be "weird and disturbing but funny at the same time" - much like the strange and surreal humour he so enjoyed as a boy.
Adrian's first novel, BARNACLE BRAT won Underground Books Reviews' INDIE NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2016 (Readers' Choice) and STANLEY McCLOUD MUST DIE!, his second novel, scooped First Runner Up for the exact same award in 2018.
Besides Python and Kurt Vonnegut, Adrian cites his other major influences as Stephen King, Galton & Simpson, David Bowie, Bruce Robinson, Christopher Moore, David Mitchell, Robert Rankin, Colin Bateman, Irvine Welsh, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to name a few.
Latest News
Retro and Quirky
As of 2023/2024 Adrian decided to take a break from writing his weird novels and short stories to concentrate on creating new artworks. As the artist/author spent 4 years at art/technical college it's good to know those years weren't wasted! He says the drawings tend to be 'retro quirky' in a mix of ink and pencil. Adrian says he will sometimes take inspiration from old photos and postcards (Victorian/1950s/1960s/1970s) and reimagine them into something new. Some of his favourite drawings are those based on his dad's old photos - pure nostalgia. We look forward to seeing what he produces in the future.
Click over to the ART tab for more.
When Adrian isn't drawing, he's usually creating/designing book covers for others - and there's a lot of them out there!
Interviews
As you might know, I rarely leave the house, let alone give interviews
But if you'd like to read one I gave to Underground Book Reviews back in 2015 you can ...
Or, if straightforward text with none of those pesky images is your thing, scroll down to the Downloads section; you'll find a PDF transcript of the interview right there.