A strange thing: The launch of the paperback of Play Me! is a bigger deal than the launch of the original hardback, which is its first appearance in the world. The hardback is the book’s first day…
Thriller writer Oliver Johnson speaks to me about writing, editing and dreams TEN MINUTE READ Listen to the full interview or read the edited transcript below. I was looking forward greatly to interviewing Oliver Johnson.…
Devil in a Blue Dress is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Walter Mosley’s bestseller broke new ground and was snapped up by Hollywood. It opened up whole new possibilities for Black writers. But do either book…
This week I’m talking to bestselling author Sam Blake. Originally from St. Albans in Hertfordshire, Sam has two teenagers, three cats and lives in a 200-year-old cottage at the foot of the Wicklow mountains with…
I’m delighted this week to host a question and answer session with the successful crime author and screenwriter Adam Hamdy. Adam is the author of the acclaimed Pendulum trilogy, an epic series of conspiracy thriller novels, nominated…
There’s something about books written by masters of their craft towards the end of their careers. It’s a kind of poise, an ease, that you can see in (say) Philip Roth’s late books. (Which isn’t…
Louise Doughty is one of the most interesting authors today. Refusing to be pigeon-holed, every book breaks new ground. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize…
Crime writer Dominique Hall has written to me for advice on sending a novel to an agent. She says: I am at the stage of approaching agents as I have written a crime novel, and…
It’s not often that a writer gets to blow his own trumpet, but it’s the second anniversary of the publication of The Breaking of Liam Glass and much to celebrate and be grateful for. My…
It was like they weren’t there. This is the opening sentence of my novel The Breaking of Liam Glass. Why did I write the opening as I did and not in one of a million…
In 2000 the movie What Lies Beneath opened to mixed reviews. Despite a strong opening, cast (Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer) and director (Robert Zemeckis), reviewers talked of its “decomposing script” and said it “ran off…
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…
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…
Wants and Needs in Writing A few weeks ago I wrote about my GOATS method for writing fiction and screenplays. Anna Mönnich wrote in response from Germany. Her email brings up an issue that often…
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…
How to write powerful stories using the GOATS method. Great stories possess great power. Whether fiction, movies, TV or theatre, they have the power to move, to change people’s lives (and even to earn their…
Small things can be important too. Sometimes, I sweat for an hour over a paragraph, a line of dialogue, a single word. I’ve known comedy writers argue for ages over whether the number 35 is…
Or develop characters they’ll hate… envy… admire… care about… Character is at the heart of every story – whether for stage, screen or printed page. A film, book or play can be brilliantly written, exquisitely…