Wandering and Wondering – Alex ShawTwenty seven years ago I saw Alan Bennett sitting on a wall in the Yorkshire village of Heckmondwikestaring at passers-by and taking notes. When my father and I, two southerners passed by he made note...
‘I wonder if I have annoyed Linda recently?’ said a friend sitting down to dinner at my house after looking at my collection of true crime books. Crime and cooking have both been great interests of mi...
Split Screens – Linda StratmannMulti-tasking is an essential ability for a writer. Hands and mind can work simultaneously and independently, and there can be one issue engaging the forefront of the mind while another is still worki...
Recently I was asked to describe a typical working day as a writer. Years ago when I worked in an office I knew exactly what a typical day was – I went to the same place five days a week, and did the...
A Fistful of Seaweed – John Bayliss‘I groaned out loud. I was never going to get my wallet back, Ackerman wasn’t going to get his photograph back and, as a reward, he was going to boil my bones down to glue. My destiny was to hol...
I Love the Sound of Rainfall in the Morning – Linda StratmannOne question writers are often asked is whether they listen to music when they are writing, and if so what are their favourite tracks. Some say they just listen for pleasure, others find actual inspir...
Location, location, location, eh?Being a Canadian mystery writer is a lot like being a Who in Dr. Seuss’s Who-ville. We may live in the second largest country on the planet, but the small size of our population severely limits our ho...
The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 3-12 October 2014The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival attracts hundreds of the world’s leading authors, journalists, comedians, politicians, actors, broadcasters and more. Big names appearing...
First of all, let me be clear about the subject matter. When I talk about independent publishing, I mean being traditionally published but by a smaller press that is not part of a larger conglo...
Watching TV these days, you’d think that something odd is happening to the form of the story. Instead of watching a series, we’ve now started to devour whole boxed sets of Broadchurch or The Bridge. I...
Joining the CRA is FREE. There are no lengthy forms to fill out and we need nothing but your email. You will receive a regular newsletter but no spam.
The CRA Newsletter: February 2018
The CRA Newsletter: January 2018
The CRA Newsletter: December 2017