Blog posts
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As someone who lived in Darlington for many years, including more than two decades running creative writing classes in the town, I am delighted to be able to give this excellent initiative a mention: Creative Storytelling Workshops Darlington library, every Thursday 12:00- 2:00 Join a series of welcoming creative workshops at the Centre for Local…
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Regular readers of this website will know that from time to time, I drop in free gratis Handy Hints for emerging authors and the latest one recalls a piece of advice from legendary crime fiction editor John Hale (pictured here) when it comes to plotting. You will find it in in Handy Hints – Plotting…
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The Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival will take place in Harrogate between July 23-26, 2026, and will feature more than 140 crime and thriller writers, making it the biggest event in the Festival’s twenty-three-year history. The line-up of bestselling authors and crime fiction names includes Richard Armitage, Ardal O’Hanlon, Denise Mina, Val McDermid, M.W.…
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Publishing has become ever more complex and emerging writers trying to break into the crime fiction market are an example of the need for them to know exactly what they write. It is no longer enough to pitch to a publisher or agent saying that you write ‘crime’ because the category has become more complicated…
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I thought that an update on my crime novels might interest my readers, so here goes. Book number 27 is currently undergoing editing (and will be published by The Book Folks, an imprint of the award-winning Joffe Books) and it’s a DCI John Blizzard one (the previous book to appear was Murder in the Pennines,…
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Here’s a Handy Hint for if you run into writer’s block. Try doing something completely different to clear your mind. Personally, I use gardening. At first, I thought it would make me think of nothing and so create space for thoughts of writing when I was doing the various jobs, weeding and the like. However,…
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Crime writers May Rinaldi and Jackie Baldwin joined fantasy author Sarah Burchett-Cook and fellow writer Geoffrey Lindop to meet readers and sign books at the Garden Fair staged by Threave Gardens, near Castle Douglas, on Bank Holiday Monday (May 4). May’s debut novel Liar Thief was recently published to much critical acclaim and Jackie has…
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I had quite a bit of feedback following my post about authors’ names being hijacked by scammers and it really does make for bleak reading. Scammers are pretending to be famous authors and adopting a subtle approach, asking for nothing up front, not offering their services, just saying they want a chat author-to author. Some…
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Like many authors, I receive all sorts of emails on a daily basis, most of them selling services such as promotion of my books, perfectly genuine but basically sales pitches. Others are obviously scams, some patently obvious as they demand money from the outset, but some are more subtle. I can usually spot them but…
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Details have been announced for one of Scotland’s major literary festivals. Borders Book Festival began in June 2004, when Alistair Moffat had the idea of creating a small literary gathering in Melrose and was joined by Paula Ogilvie for an event that welcomed a handful of speakers and an audience of about 400. Today, it…
John Dean - Crime Writer 