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How to write a (crime) novel #2
Last time, I gave you some pointers on how to get going with writing and encouraged you to take your writing seriously. This time I’m going to suggest ways of finding the characters to tell your story....
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Author Interview: Kate Rhodes
Today I am very happy to welcome the successful crime writer, Kate Rhodes, to my blog. Kate Rhodes began her writing life by keeping an ’embarrassing’ (so she tells me!) teenage diary, which she hopes...
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How to write a (crime) novel #3: plotting
Are you a ‘planner’ or a ‘pantser’? In other words, do you prefer to know exactly what is going to happen on every page of your novel before you write it? Or do you prefer to start writing and see how...
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Spring – writing as a way of healing
I realise there are tragedies big and small every day which touch individuals and peoples profoundly, and I would like to acknowledge each one of them. Inevitably, there are some which have a greater...
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Author interview: Louise Mangos
This week, I am very happy to welcome writer Louise Mangos to my blog. Louise initially studied business communications in the UK, and later studied journalism at CU in Boulder Colorado in her...
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Hw to write a (crime) novel #4: arrive late, leave early
The best piece of advice I read/heard for writing any kind of novel, but particularly a crime novel: Arrive late, leave early (apologies, not sure of the source) When I’m writing, I tend to be focused...
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Making a creative space
After another re-read and edit, I have given (the hopefully almost) final draft of The Art of Breathing to a friend for another read through before it goes to the copyeditor. The Art of Breathing is...
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Author interviews – Jaq Hazell
I am thrilled to host Jaq Hazell on my blog today. Her novel, I came to Find a Girl, is a disturbing and gripping psychologically-minded story which I can highly recommend. Jaq writes crime fiction and...
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How to write a (crime) novel #5: settings
The lighting is subdued, the weather is stormy, the landscape bleak, a lone car travels along a winding single track road. The scene is set, is it not? It feels as if since the introduction of Nordic...
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Author Interview: Margret Geraghty
For me The Novelist’s Guide by Margret Geraghty remains one of the best guides for those embarking on any kind of story writing, but particularly novel writing. How excited was I, then, when I...
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A Writer’s Life – spinning hats, again
I have completed the re-writes for my third crime novel based in Scarborough, The Art of Breathing. It has gone through various drafts each time commented on by writing friends Lesley, Kate and Felix,...
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How to write a (crime) novel #6: getting in touch with our shadow side
We British like a crime novel, so says Alistair Horne, of Cambridge University Press, http://goo.gl/KBPfpy, it is by far the best selling genre in the UK. Is this because we are a particularly...
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A Writer’s Life: my journal
I’ve just spent two weeks exploring the delights of Oslo and Bergen in Norway. As always I had my trusty writing journal with me. When all around me cameras were clicking and ‘selfie’ sticks were out,...
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Author Interview: Kate M Colby – comes with free gift attached.
In honour of American Independence Day, I am thrilled to welcome writer Kate M. Colby to my blog. I have made some of my journey to being an ‘indie’ publisher alongside Kate and I have found her...
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Cultural Break: re-writing Shakespeare
There’s been a lot said about the playwright William Shakespeare in recent months because in April it was four hundred years since his death. He is frequently pronounced the greatest writer in English...
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Author Interview: Anne Goodwin
Anne Goodwin at her launch, Jesmond 2015 It is a year since author, Anne Goodwin, published her debut novel, Sugar and Snails. An intriguing novel which explores the sense of being different and...
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How to write a (crime) novel #7 – structure
The 1930s in the UK has been called the ‘Golden Age’ of crime writing. The genre was massively popular and some of our best-loved crime writers – Agatha Christie and DL Sayers – were at work. At first...
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And the adventure continues
This Autumn I will be indie publishing my third novel, The Art of Breathing, as well as re-launching The Art of the Imperfect and The Art of Survival with new covers. The three form the beginning of a...
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Author Interview: Anna Chilvers
Today I am delighted to welcome Anna Chilvers for interview on my blog. Her second novel, Tainted Love (Bluemoose, 2016) has just been long-listed for The Guardian’s Not-the-Booker-Prize. Her first...
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How to write a (crime) novel #8 – two bits of advice
In the last posting for How to Write a (Crime) Novel, I mentioned the Golden Age of crime writing and the author DL Sayers. She gave two pieces of advice to crime writers which I think are still...
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