Author of the Kember & Hayes mysteries
Sitting at the Capital Crime book signing table in 2022, I spotted book blogger Donna Morfett’s pink hair well before she approached and said, ‘I’ve got you on my radar.’ Little did I know that five months later I would be appearing on a panel at her one-day literary festival:… Read more“The Darkside of Brighton”
‘What’s in a name?’ wrote Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. ‘That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.’ George Eliot complimented this with ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ in The Mill on the Floss. All well and good but, as I discovered when… Read more“Judging a Book by its Cover”
Having always wanted to write about characters I can develop over time in a series of books, I found myself in a curious position. Book One had been written, edited and coaxed through many iterations. It had been drafted, crafted, beta read and re-drafted. In fact, the rough wood had… Read more“Stick or Twist – An Author’s Dilemma”
As I stood with my fellow course-mates on the Curtis Brown Creative (CBC) 3-month London course, I had never experienced such an intense feeling of impostor syndrome. They looked like ‘proper’ authors and I wondered whether I had been ushered into the wrong waiting area. The feeling did not dissipate… Read more“Becoming a Curtis Brown Creative”
Given the popularity of crime novels, it’s almost criminal in itself that it took so long for such a large catchment area as Medway to have its own major crime writing festival. Last Saturday’s inaugural Murderous Medway, under the Rochester Literature Festival banner, finally put that right. Five panels brought together… Read more“MURDEROUS MEDWAY”
I first received advice to write what you know while in school and thought it made perfect sense. After all, Ian Fleming had been in Naval Intelligence and John le Carré in both MI5 and MI6 before writing their spy novels, whilst Alistair MacLean had been in the Royal Navy… Read more“Write What You Know (just don’t kill anyone)”
Writers achieving ‘overnight success’ usually have back stories telling of failed novels, lost competitions and mounds of rejection slips, illustrating years of hard work and perseverance. Drawing on their personal experiences, they recommend entering competitions and submitting articles to many publications. Decades ago, this was not the advice my… Read more“Staying the Course to Overnight Success”
Having listened last Friday to the talented Lisa Cutts, William Shaw and Simon Booker discuss crime writing at the Faversham Literary Festival, I was reminded of Stephen King’s words, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a… Read more“Writing Festivals – It’s A Crime Not To”
This being my first ever blog post, I thought I’d share how I became interested in writing. It is said that everyone has a book in them but I’m not sure that’s true. Not everyone has either the inclination to complete the thousands of words necessary or the ability to… Read more“The Legacy of a Good English Teacher”