• Joffe Books enters the digital market place

    Joffe Books, which I am proud to call my publisher, continues to go from strength to strength. The company, which was recently named Trade Publisher of the Year at the Independent Publishing Awards (IPA), has filled a gap in its provision by launching its own audio books operation. Joffe Audio titles are available through https://www.audible.co.uk…

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  • Countdown to new book is on

    It is gratifying when reviews of your work ask when the next book in the series is due out. Quite a few reviewers have asked recently about the next one in the series featuring DCI John Blizzard. Well, the countdown to publication is very much on. The main edits are done and now we move…

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  • Opportunity for crime writers

    As part of National Crime Reading Month, North-East crime writers Laura Buckley and Pam Plumb are hosting Sinners at the Speakeasy on June 13 at Stockton-on-Tees’s Deep Grain Studios, a Noir at the Bar style event for crime writers to read to an audience. Sign up if you are a crime writer who would like…

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  • Library award shortlist announced

    The shortlist has been announced for the Dagger in the Library award, run by the Crime Writers’ Association and based on nominations from people working in libraries and borrowers. The winner will be announced, with the other winners, at the Daggers Awards in July and will be an author who is popular with readers and…

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  • Author shortlisted for major prize

    The Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling has named the first all-women shortlist for its Scotland Debut Prize, including Dumfries and Galloway author May Rinaldi, author of the psychological crime novel  Liar Thief, her first published novel. The others shortlisted authors are Frances Crawford, Linda Duncan McLaughlin, Kirsty Lockwood and Zoe Rankin and the…

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  • When reviews go beyond reasonable

    I have always been supportive of the review facility on the likes of Amazon. Readers have the right to express their views of a book and I respect that. Indeed, an author can learn from negative reviews. I am fortunate in that most of my reviews are complimentary and even if a review is less…

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  • Crime novels reissued ahead of launch

     The Book Folks, a Joffe Books company, has decided to re-issue the first four books in the Nash and Moretti series by Ian Robinson, prior to the fifth being released on June 15. They are terrific books from one of my favourite authors and the series by Ian, who is from South West Scotland, will…

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  • AI continues to cause concern

    I am delighted to see quite a few posts recently on the various social media sites of which I am a member, cautioning against the effect of AI on the industry we all love. I am extremely concerned about its impact on the likes of authors and editors and the like. To that end, I…

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  • Talking to your characters

    I am fortunate in that I don’t really suffer from writer’s block but that is not to say that it does not happen  on occasion. My solution? It’s turning to my characters, starting a dialogue that will allow them to come up with suggestions. But how do you do that? Well, you need to adopt…

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  • A tale of secrets and treachery

    I first encountered Darlington author Paul Hodgson more than twenty years ago through his excellent autobiographies based on the life and times of a wheelchair-bound football fan, which were poignant, thought-provoking and humorous. Now, he has a new novel out. John‘s Journey tells how, in the blood-soaked trenches of World War One, Private John Wray…

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