Going Fishing, by Gary ConnollyFor me, stories begin with images more often than not. Sometimes they’re grainy, but more often visceral and clear. Blood Will Be Born started in this way and was written on and off between 2014 and 2...
2000 Years in 900 Words: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s Innovative Crime Flash FictionWilliam Burton McCormick Flash fiction is not a genre that often allows room for substantial flashbacks, backstory or large degrees of introspection. When writers do include these elements, they must...
Turning real historical crimes into cosy fiction, by Karen CharltonKaren is author of The Detective Lavender Mysteries. I first came across Stephen Lavender, a Principal Officer with the Bow Street Police Office while researching one of Northumberland’s biggest robbe...
Case Files 31Case Files issue 31 – out soon! Case Files is an ezine that profiles new or forthcoming novels from members of the Crime Writers’ Association. Subscribing is free – and it let’...
Finding the Plot by Bill Kitson‘There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.’ Terry Pratchett One of...
Going Against the Grain by Antony JohnstonIt’s time to admit that I enjoy going against the grain. Until now I’ve been best known as a graphic novelist, and I’ve had my share of success; a couple of New York Times bestsellers, some critical a...
Everything is Lies by Helen CallaghanHelen Callaghan‘s thrilling debut novel, Dear Amy, was a Sunday Times bestseller. This month sees the release of her second book, Everything Is Lies. What if your parents had been lying to you s...
CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition 2018 Now OpenThe Crime Writers’ Association are once again running the prestigious Margery Allingham Short Story Competition in 2018. The international competition is for an unpublished story in under 3,500 words...
Lady First by Lea O’HarraLea O’Harra on her new novel, the third in the Inspector Inoue mystery series, published by Endeavour Press, and the themes and concerns that underpin it. Fujikawa, a small town in rural, western Japa...
Mystery Tour, the new CWA Short Story AnthologyThe CWA Anthology series are collections of short stories by members of the Crime Writers’ Association and celebrate the best of crime writing by showcasing both established and emerging talent. The l...
Balkan Noir and the Woman with a Bullet in her Leg by Cal SmythI wanted to write a crime novel set in Belgrade for a long time as it’s a fascinating city and perfect for Balkan Noir. I’ve also loved two Serbian women, my son is half Serbian and I lived in Belgrad...
UPCOMING THRILLER DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM CELEBRITY STALKERS by Khaled TalibSandra Bullock called 911 after an intruder broke into her house. Brook Shields was stalked for years by an obsessive fan. A woman threatened to cut Catherine-Zeta Jones into pieces and feed her to a...
Writing About a Dying Heroine by J F Kirwan88° North has an unusual premise, since the heroine, Nadia, has radiation sickness from her last encounter with her nemesis, Salamander. She’s been given weeks to live. She could go to an exotic islan...
Write a Review of a Dagger Shortlisted Title and Win a Weekend Pass to CrimeFestHave you heard about the new competition the CWA has launched? It’s open to everyone, and all you have to do is write a review of any of the titles that contended for the 2017 CWA Daggers and po...
Beau Death – Peter Lovesey on his new novelA wrecking ball swings into the roof of an old house near Bath. The people watching are in for a shock. When the dust clears, a skeleton is revealed sitting in the loft dressed in eighteenth century c...
WRITING THE MUSIC AND COMPOSING THE PLOT by Sarah RayneMusic has very often been a catalyst for me in the creating of a plot, and it seems to have found its way into a good many of my books. There’s the eerie death lament, ‘Thaisa’s Song’ in The Bell Towe...
99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter99 Red Balloons follows Stephanie after her eight-year-old niece disappears. She tries to support her sister, Emma, during the search for her daughter. As a mother, it’s my worst nightmare. I wanted t...
CWA Debut Dagger Competition Now OpenThe Crime Writers’ Association have opened their popular Debut Dagger competition for 2018. The competition is for the opening of a crime novel and any writer who has never had a traditional publishin...
Making the Amazon/Kindle Top 50 Bestseller List! by Faith MartinLike a lot of my fellow authors, I’ve been writing for many years now, solidly producing books (that were mostly published in hardback) and just feeling happy and relatively chuffed with myself to get...
How I drew my own cartoons – and why it gave me the idea for a cozy mystery, by Peter BartramSometimes it’s really hard to trace where the idea for a book first originated. But here’s one example. I went to a school which first opened its doors to pupils in 1614 – two years before...
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