Blog posts
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One of the most important skills that an author must master for a novel to work is the use of triggers to engage readers. The worst thing a novel can achieve is nothing – for the reader to get to the end and not to be changed in some way, to have not experienced anything.…
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In the latest addition to the Handy Hints section of this new website, which is provided primarily to help aspiring writers, crime writer John Dean examines how new regular characters can revitalise series of novels. You can find the piece in Handy Hints – Characters on in the main menu.
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Crime writer John Dean has added to the Writing’s Golden Rules pages in the Handy Hints section of this new website. The Handy Hints are designed primarily to help aspiring writers as they develop their craft and one subject that crops up on various websites is the advice to ‘show not tell.’ But what does it…
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One of the challenges for authors writing crime novels with complex plots is to ensure that opportunities to help readers keep up with the twists and turns are fully exploited. Crime novels often have complicated plots and a large number of characters and readers can easily find themselves confused. In his latest Handy Hint for…
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Writing group The Inkers has paid tribute to the historic role that its hometown played in the development of the railways 200 years ago, with the publication of a collection of short stories, including one by best-selling crime writer John Dean. Inspired by the 2025 bicentenary of the world’s first passenger service – the Stockton…
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Best-selling crime writer John Dean publishes free gratis articles which are designed to help aspiring authors to better understand their craft. The latest one, which is focused on the development of plot, comes to a conclusion which might surprise the reader when he asks who is actually writing his stories? You can find out more…
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As part of this newly-created website, best-selling crime writer John Dean has provided dozens of free handy hints for the aspiring writer. The latest one to be added is a way of confirming that the writer has created ‘real’ characters and not cardboard cut-outs. It can be found here at www.johndeancrimewriter.co.uk in the Handy Hints…
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August 6 2025 Newly-published sales figures showed that the sale of print books dropped by 1.6%in the first half of 2025, compared to the same period a year ago. The figures compiled from reports to Circana BookScan showed that sales from the six major print categories fell to 343.6 million in the first six months…
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Research conducted by Scientific American magazine has shown that more than 50 per cent of people, when questioned, admit to having coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. Five per cent of them described as ‘extreme’ the fear they experience. The findings, based on questionnaire replies from 987 people aged 18 to 77 worldwide, revealed that the…
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No less than eight John Dean crime novels are this morning to be found in in the top 100 best-selling Organised Crime kindle e-books on Amazon. The titles in question are led by, at number two in the chart, by the DCI Jack Harris boxset containing the first nine novels in the popular series, published…
John Dean - Crime Writer 