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The team behind Kirkcudbright Book Festival stages the event in the first week of March for several reasons. One of the main ones is that the annual World Book Day happens on the first Thursday of the month with its commitment to young writers and readers and the festival team runs a series of free…
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Author Carol Dean has published the life story of one of the most colourful figures in the American Old West – and readers may be in for a surprise. The reader may think that they know Buffalo Bill’s story already but Carol’s meticulous research adds immeasurably to our knowledge of the great showman for her…
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Exciting plans for a new centre dedicated to writing and publishing are taking shape. New Writing North and Northumbria University are to create the centre in Newcastle and it will be a public building. It will host programmes, courses, and events for professional and aspiring writers, for those who write purely for the love of…
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One of the most prestigious honours in the crime writing world has been awarded to Mark Billingham, in recognition of his twenty-five year contribution to the genre. The author, whose debut novel Sleepyhead was abestseller, the first of many, has been awarded the Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers’ Association. Mark was born in Birmingham…
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I keep a close eye on trends in fiction, not least because it allows me to suggest new genres worth trying for unpublished writers. One of the most notable new genres is what has rapidly turned into one of the hottest areas of publishing, namely the mixing of romance and fantasy to create ‘romantasy’, which…
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One of the key features of an event like the forthcoming Kirkcudbright Book Festival is the opportunities it affords for audiences to experience local voices. Yes, festivals provide a chance for local readers to hear readings from big name writers (this year those names include political commentator Michael Crick and romantic comedy novelist Fiona Gibson…
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The next twelve months offer hope for all those unpublished writers out there who are seeking that all-important breakthrough as opportunities open up like never before. You will hear some writers, both published and non-published, coming up with gloomy prognostications about the book trade but I beg to differ. These are exciting times, boom times…
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Every literary festival needs a blend of authors travelling in from outside the area and a healthy offering of home-grown talent.The team that has put together the forthcoming Kirkcudbright Book Festival know that and among the home-grown talent on the programme are the members of the excellent Stewartry Writers.Back by popular demand, they will read…
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He’s back! One of the fictional world’s most unusual killers has returned in the sequel to the novella Koki, by thriller writer Malcolm Beadle. The first book in the series by Malcolm, of Darlington, County Durham, which was published in 2025, introduced readers to former rodeo clown/turned Army sniper Trent Blane. Blane has been a…
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What has a classic Ferrari F40 got to do with one of the most important elements of the craft of writing? All will be revealed in my latest free handy hints for emerging writers to be found on the Handy Hints – Writing with Pace, Light and Dark page, which can be accessed off the…
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John Dean - Crime Writer 