writing
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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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“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 question which I am sometimes asked by readers is ‘what do you think is your best book?’ The answer may come over as glib but is absolutely genuine. ‘The next one,’ I say. That is because I genuinely believe that an author never stops learning, however many books they sell and however positive reviews…
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Authors and football personalities supported the official launch of the National Year of Reading at The Emirates, the home of London club Arsenal. The nationwide initiative from the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust seeks to address the steep decline in the nation’s enjoyment of reading by inspiring people of all ages to…
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The latest book written by author Tracey Iceton has been published – and it’s a remarkable work which is very different from her previous titles. Sparky: My Barn Owl Tale (2026, Cinnamon Press) is Sparky’s semi-(auto)biographical account of life before, and since, she and Tracey met in 2022. Hatched in the UK in August 2017,…
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The business world was shaken to its core with the publication six years ago of the searing expose of corporate big business The Diary of Ridley Pinstripe. Indeed, it was so shaken that virtually no one bought a copy of the book, so now it has been relaunched thanks to popular lack of demand and…
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Preparations are well under way for the beginning of the National Year of Reading 2026, which aims to tackle the steep decline in reading for enjoyment among readers of all ages. The campaign is being run by the National Literacy Trust and the Department for Education under the rallying call Go All In, which was…
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I have always been a huge fan of libraries – my father was a chief librarian, my first summer job was in my local library and many years later, as a volunteer, I played a role in the successful campaign to save that library, and one other in the same town, which had been under…
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NielsenIQ BookData and GfK Entertainment have released their international data for book sales in the first eight months of 2025, and it reveals a mixed picture. Eleven out of 19 territories reported revenue growth, often accompanied by significant price increases, with crime fiction performing particularly well. The authors of the report say that international book…
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Publisher Joffe Books has announced the winner of the Joffe Books Prize 2025, which has gone to T.L. Haseeb, for The Portrait Maker, the first in a new police procedural series featuring Amber Kash, a seasoned British Asian Detective Inspector in her forties. The author receives a two-book publishing deal with Joffe Books, a £1,000…
John Dean - Crime Writer 