Blog posts
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The Society of Authors (SoA) has backed a Parliamentary report that calls for greater control of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to protect writers. (SoA) officials have welcomed thirty eight recommendations made by the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, which include a call for the Government to make a clear public statement that commercial AI…
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It’s been absolutely brilliant to see the way that Kirkcudbright Book Festival was so well supported by local people and visitors to the town, with plenty of enthusiasm on show. Yet again, the town showed its support for the festival and the team behind the event are to be congratulated on their work to make…
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The nation’s crime writers have joined up with the biggest literacy campaign in a generation as they prepare for one of the most eagerly-awaited events in the crime writing calendar. National Crime Reading Month (NCRM), which runs every June, encourages new readers, avid readers and non-crime readers alike to take a fresh look at the…
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Are you an emerging writer seeking to learn about creating fiction and keen to receive plain-speaking advices? Then a book written by best-selling novelist John Dean, in which he examines the craft behind fiction, could well be for you. In On Writing, John, who is best known for his crime novels, 26 of which have…
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Jerwood Fellowship recipients announced New Writing North has announced that Kym Deyn, Katherine Horrex and J.A.Mensah have been selected as the recipients of the Jerwood Fellowships. The Fellowships support early career published writers of fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction with a £10,000 cash bursary and a bespoke package of support and mentoring, funded by the…
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Writers can create the finest landscapes, devise the greatest plots and produce the most remarkable prose but they cannot make their narrative truly come to life unless they have devised effective characters. It is your characters who tell your stories, who bring your ideas to life, who engage the reader’s imagination, who make them laugh…
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I am delighted to be asked to write a piece for the latest short fiction anthology published by new Glasgow-based publisher Tantallon Tir, which can be pre-ordered at https://tantallontir.com/call-of-the-isles The publisher says of its latest anthology: “From St Kilda to Samoa, Call of the Isles sails into islands beset with grief, violence, hope, regret, and…
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After a difficult day health-wise, from which I am only just starting to emerge, what a boost it proved when the DCI Jack Harris ebook boxset (nine novels for £1.99, now that’s an offer – publisher The Book Folks, a Joffe Books company) received this review on Amazon. Thank you, anonymous Australian reviewer, you have…
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“I know that some novelists do not plan, just start writing and see where the story takes them, but in my experience that often takes them into a cul-de-sac and things can become horrendously convoluted as they try to write themselves back out. I am one of the many novelists who do plan and I…
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A book written by best-selling novelist John Dean, in which he examines the craft behind fiction, has been published. In On Writing, John, who is best known for his crime novels, 26 of which have been published, sets out to help emerging writers who are learning their craft and also to give readers an insight…
John Dean - Crime Writer 