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...
CBS Reality premieres original crime series, Written in BloodRC Bridgestock, Mark Billingham and other authors have their work featured, while best-selling author Simon Toyne hosts. Written in Blood airs every Sunday at 10pm from 3 September, exclusively on CBS...
Give My Regards to Uncle Stalin by Fiona Veitch SmithA recent review of the second book in my Poppy Denby Investigates series, The Kill Fee, has made me laugh. The reader’s main gripe was that in her opinion my characterisation of communists was too ‘po...
Case Files 28Case Files issue 28 – 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’...
Review CWA Dagger-Shortlisted TitlesDid you know that the CWA have set up a website where people can leave reviews of the shortlisted books for the CWA Daggers 2017? http://daggerreads.co.uk/readers/ No prizes I’m afraid, but as it’s mo...
Summer in San Remo by Evonne WarehamSummer in San Remo enjoyed a secret book launch. The author, Evonne Wareham, writes: “Secrets are fascinating. Crime writers thrive on them. There would probably be a lot fewer crime books writt...
Is Originality Overrated? By Rafe McGregorI came across Richard Bradford’s excellent Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction at the end of last year, while preparing a syllabus for a creative writing module. I was disappointed but not surpr...
My Writing Space by Mike JecksMichael Jecks is the well-known author of many, mostly historical crime novels. ‘It is a bit of a shock to realise that I’ve been a professional author for 23 years, now. I’ve published 4...
Writing Psychological Thrillers – How far can you go when you’re sworn to secrecy? By AJ WainesAs a former psychotherapist, I’ve been faced with enough guilty secrets, obsessions and shocking revelations to keep several novelists busy for the rest of their lives! My work involved connecting wit...
Case Files 27Case Files issue 27 – 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’...
100 Golden Crime ClassicsThe British Library Crime Classics have been wildly popular in the last few years and have brought many neglected writers from the golden age back into print. The advice and expertise of Martin Edward...
How Crime in the Wild West Pays Off for Author EverettDuring 1989-1991 I was hired to write profiles of famous film/ television personalities for TV Scene magazine which mostly contained photographs and interviews with then current American television st...
Keeping Secrets by A L BirdCan you keep a secret? Really, truly? Not a word, not a hint to anyone? As if your life depended on it? Or indeed your livelihood? Well, thriller writers can. And so can many of their protagonists. Ye...
A Day in the Life…. by Abi Silver, author of The Pinocchio Brief, out in July 2017, published by Lightning Books.Waking early in “so much to do today” mode, I check my list of “Things to remember to take in,” even though I checked it twice the previous night. After a while I rouse the kids, who grumble, they’re...
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