| "Having lived in Nottingham for 15 years, I wanted to reflect the different communities here and to show the lives of 20-somethings in the city." | | Adrian Reynolds, writer |
Naked City is a collection of short stories based around the concept of analysing life in regenerating British cities through fiction, bypassing the “PR spin and glossed commercial brochures”. It includes a wide range of works set in various locations, including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and, of course, Nottingham. The collection also features a very literal take on the theme by photographer Kevin Reynolds who arranged nude models into typical urban situations. This maverick approach from the publishers was one of the factors that inspired author James Walker to get involved. “What I like about Route,” James says, “is the way they are exploring different areas of writing. They have a great range and that suited me because I like to extend boundaries in my work.” Characters
 | | Nottingham writer Adrian Reynolds |
James’ story, ‘Why I have to wear a pair of Wranglers everyday for as long as I live on this street’ tells of how a well-intentioned attempt to find the owners of a dog, involved in a road accident, backfires. James says the road where all the action takes place is based around the kind of areas he has seen living in Nottingham. He says: “There are a lot of characters in Nottingham. I find the people to be very honest and down-to-earth.” Fellow contributor Adrian Reynolds also gains inspiration from the people of the city for his story ‘Rules of the Game’. “Having lived in Nottingham for 15 years, I wanted to reflect the different communities here and to show the lives of 20-somethings in the city.”
 | | Nottingham writer James Walker |
‘Rules of the Game’ name-checks many famous Nottingham locations in a sardonic account of a planned evening out. Although he had written the story before the project started, Adrian was very keen for it to be included once he heard about it. “Firstly, I liked the idea of writing about cities,” he says. “Secondly, I liked the idea of having naked people in the book!” Adrian is primarily a scriptwriter who has written episodes of the BBC drama Doctors and is currently working on more TV projects. James Walker's first novel, This Is All I Know, is due for publication and he is also working on another-Nottingham based project, a local lad’s view on Brian Clough. Naked City is available from all good bookshops... | 
