Blog posts
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
To mark the publication of Call of the Isles – A Scottish Anthology by new Glasgow publisher Tantallon Tìr on Friday May 1, for which I was invited to write a short story, I am one the contributors who have given interviews offering an insight into my work. You can find it in the author…
-
Call of the Isles – A Scottish Anthology is published by new Glasgow publisher Tantallon Tìr on Friday May 1. I am delighted to have a story included and you can read my review of the book in the Review section of my website
-
Writing fiction throws up all sorts of interesting quandaries for the author such as how much, if any, of your characters can be based on real people, what can you learn by staring at trees when it comes to judging the amount of description you use, how do you avoid confusing your reader when it…
