Blog posts
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Meet the author’s secret weapon. These are our dogs and they play a crucial role in helping me keep my stories moving, particularly if I’m stuck for the next stage in the plot. If an author sets out to have an idea, I can pretty much guarantee that it will not happen. The author’s mind…
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My latest free Handy Hint for emerging writers deals with the important role of detail in writing and can be found in the characters section on my website.
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We’ve added more events and books to discover – and rediscover – to our new website celebrating crime writing in Kirkcudbright and the wider Dumfries and Galloway, including an exploration of the work of novelist Evelyn Hood. It can be found at https://kirkcudbrightcrimewriting.com/
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My latest free handy hint for emerging authors, dealing with dialogue, can be found in the Handy Hints – Characters pages on this website. It deals with the need to write ‘properly’ while keeping the conversations you write realistic. This is only a snippet, of course, but if you want a more detailed exploration of…
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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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The latest in the series of my free pieces of advice for emerging writers can be found in Handy Hints General, including Editing, accessed off the menu at my website. Actually it starts with advice from novelist Sarah Waters, who said: ‘Cut like crazy. Less is more. I’ve often read manuscripts – including my own…
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Where would you find a chance to learn about the craft of crime writing while enjoying a convivial weekend at a Kirkcudbright hotel, the story of a serial killer whose confession nobody believes, the chance to enjoy ‘cheese, wine and crime’ with three authors, the background to one of the great crime novels which is…
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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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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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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…
