Has Amazon deleted your reviews?
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog in which I said how important reviews were to authors and readers. Imagine my shock, then, when I discovered that Amazon has developed an algorithm to delete…
How to write a riveting review
This week, an art that is both very new and almost as old as writing itself – writing reviews. First, a thank you to everyone who’s written reviews of my books. The number of Amazon…
How to stop innocent people getting shot
In his fascinating book on our unconscious instincts, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell starts one chapter with the shooting of sidewalk peddler Amadou Diallo by New York police in 1999. Race was, of course, an element. But what…
Death by Monet: Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi
Black Water Lilies review The struggles of three women – a child, a school-teacher and an elderly woman about to be widowed – intertwine in this award-winning crime thriller which takes place over 13 days…
The Man Who Tasted Shapes by Richard E Cytowic
It began in a kitchen. Two men talking over a roast chicken. But one off-beat comment would lead to a decades-long scientific detective story. And a new view of what it means to be human.…
They warned us! Review: Middle England by Jonathan Coe
They warned us. We were making a film for the British car makers British Leyland in their Midlands Longbridge factory. But the camera crew was using an estate car made by another company. A “foreign”…
Rules for novelists writing rules for novelists
Many writers have handed down their golden rules for novelists. There seems to come a moment in every writer’s life when he or she feels it’s time to share what made them a success. This…
Liam Glass gets a BookBub recommendation
This week I have exciting news: my novel has landed a prestigiousBOOKBUB RECOMMENDATION. They’re putting my debut noir thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass out to their massive mailing list for 99p/99c – for only a…
Taking risks in the farmers’ market
How often do you find yourself taking risks? Recently, my wife and I visited a farmers’ market along with our younger son and his family. I don’t know about you, but I find these places…
The one sentence at the heart of all horror stories
I’d hoped to avoid Halloween and horror stories… But I just got sucked in. It must be all the skeletons, zombies and pumpkin lanterns around here. I started thinking about what horrifies people and how…
English noir at the seaside? Review: MJ Arlidge’s thriller ‘Eeeny Meeny’
English noir or seaside noir? We’ve had classic Hollywood noir, Scandi noir and the fast-rising Tartan noir, north of the border. But what of English noir? Or perhaps even seaside noir – burgeoning at the…
Is cozy mystery crime the new hummus?
Now is possibly the best time ever to be a cozy mystery crime reader Sales of crime novels in the UK soared this year, overtaking general fiction for the first time. And, like hummus, it seems…
Why do we love crime?
Do you love crime, like me? We’re not alone. Turn on the TV, go to the cinema, walk into a bookshop – crime is everywhere. Yet, ironically, crime statistics are going down all round the…
The two myths about keeping and breaking the rules
There are two myths that go around about keeping and breaking the rules. I’m not only talking about writing – the same myths apply to just about anything in the arts, and in fact anything…
Living on the edge
It was one of these special places on the edge of things. Where you place a novel or screenplay is one of the most important decisions a writer makes. As I started planning the novel…
Peak experience? The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
Library Corner review: The Sound of the Mountain – Yasunari Kawabata Let me declare an interest, well at least two. On the one hand, I’m a sucker for anything Japanese. On the other, there’s little…
How seductive is the call of Sirens – review of Joseph Knox’s debut noir
Sirens – this week’s review in the Library Corner I was standing in Waterstones, asking for dark crime stories, when the assistant handed me Sirens – debut novel by Joseph Knox. Sumptuously produced in hardback,…
Chill out with Chili – Review: Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
We all love a good little-fish-in-a-big-pond story, when the little guy from out of town has to survive among the city-slickers. But we love it even more when the little guy turns out to be…