October 2018 Blog Posts (19)

When your characters demand to be heard

So how do you know when you are onto something when you are writing the novel? For me, it is when it starts to write itself.

What do I mean? Well, as an example, I am working on the new Jack Harris novel and, as usual, took time before writing to plan it out – events, episodes,…

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Added by John Dean on October 29, 2018 at 10:07 — No Comments

Need a bit of help writing that hit crime novel?

Added by John Dean on October 26, 2018 at 14:27 — No Comments

Thousands back library petition







Libraries across the country are being hit hard by government cuts to local authority budgets. This online petition calls for the Government to ringfence…

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Added by John Dean on October 25, 2018 at 14:30 — No Comments

Seven up in the best-sellers chart



Delighted to say that The Secrets Man is among seven of my novels in the Amazon Kindle top 100 British Detective Stories best-sellers chart. You can see the full chart at…

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Added by John Dean on October 24, 2018 at 10:02 — No Comments

A question of detail

I have always believed that what differentiates good writing from less effective writing is detail, which is the theme of a creative writing class I am teaching at the moment at Kirkudbright Galleries.…

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Added by John Dean on October 24, 2018 at 9:52 — No Comments

Exploring human passions in fiction

I am developing a talk that examines writers’ fascination with the way people flout convention, be it legal, ethical or moral. The talk has been inspired, in part, by my recently-published novel A Breach of Trust (Book…

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Added by John Dean on October 18, 2018 at 14:10 — No Comments

Thinking differently

I have always thought - and I know I will be shot down for this in some quarters - that writers view the world differently to a lot of people.

Talking to writers certainly bears that out, though, the way a word, a phrase, an image, an idea can create a train of thought that evolves…

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Added by John Dean on October 18, 2018 at 13:42 — No Comments

Depicting conflict in fiction

I am returning to a familiar theme for this blog because it will form part of my theme for the talks I give for Book Week Scotland in late November (details to be announced).

The week’s theme is…

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Added by John Dean on October 17, 2018 at 10:29 — No Comments

Memories, memories...

I am interested in the journeys that writers take to their chosen way of life.

My passion for writing stretches back to my childhood. I was fortunate in…

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Added by John Dean on October 15, 2018 at 15:34 — No Comments

Dead Hill reviewed more than 50 times

Dead Hill, the first DCI Jack Harris crime novel, has attracted more than 50 reviews on Amazon. The novel is set against a backdrop of illegal birds’ egg collecting in the North Pennines and you can see what the reviewers made of it at…

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Added by John Dean on October 15, 2018 at 14:21 — No Comments

Thou Shalt Kill riding high



Delighted that the latest DCI Harris novel Thou Shalt Kill (The Book Folks) is riding high in the Amazon Kindle best-seller charts and attracting some complimentary reviews.

Telling the story of a double murder in a remote upland community, it can be bought at …

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Added by John Dean on October 11, 2018 at 14:37 — No Comments

And this is me

I was telling someone about my crime writing the other day and it made me sound a right ghoul, reflecting on horrible themes as I do.…

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Added by John Dean on October 11, 2018 at 14:31 — No Comments

So where do story ideas come from?

Just lately, I’ve been doing a lot of teaching, and giving a number of talks, on the idea of ideas and during my research I came across these excellent quotes:

  • People always want to know: Where do I get my ideas? They're everywhere. I'm inspired by people and things around me. (Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet)
  • My standard answer is "I don't know where they come from, but I know where they come to, they come to my desk." If I'm not there, they go away again, so…
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Added by John Dean on October 10, 2018 at 11:25 — No Comments

Celebrating Libraries Week

 

This…

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Added by John Dean on October 8, 2018 at 10:42 — No Comments

Focusing once more on the golden rules of writing

I have today started teaching a…

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Added by John Dean on October 5, 2018 at 16:22 — No Comments

When an idea takes hold of a writer

I have talked to quite a few aspiring writers lately, who although loving short stories have decided to have a crack at producing a novel as well.…

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Added by John Dean on October 3, 2018 at 10:52 — No Comments

When less is more

As the years have progressed, my writing has become more spare, less adjectives, more story.

I have learned the need for this approach from various sources; skilled editors at my publishers, reading good fiction (and bad, you can learn a lot from bad…

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Added by John Dean on October 3, 2018 at 10:35 — No Comments

The Railway Man murder mystery novel - special offer



 

The Railway Man is on special offer at the moment. Veteran crime-solver DCI John Blizzard is confronted with his hardest case yet when a boxer and wide boy is found dead in a railway signal box.…

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Added by John Dean on October 3, 2018 at 10:30 — No Comments

new DCI Harris book

Just ordered Book five in the DCI Harris series.

Added by Deborah Kaback on October 1, 2018 at 21:12 — 1 Comment

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An exciting character

Author Ian Robinson has a new crime novel out - and it’s attracting plenty of glowing reviews. Criminal Justice (The Book Folks) introduces undercover police officer Sam Batford, a man who walks the narrow line between successful detective and corrupt cop. The novel sees him sent to work with a serious crime team in London in an investigation which sees him play the good…See More
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Authors highlight different ways of starting to write a book

I have just started writing my next crime novel and I have more time to concentrate on it now that Kirkcudbright Book Week, which I help organise, has come to an end for this year.In fact, the subject of how best to begin a story cropped up during Book Week, not least when I chaired an in-conversation event at the Selkirk Arms, featuring crime writers Traude Ailinger,…See More
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Tackling the dreaded blank first page

 I am working on a new DCI John Bizzard crime novel for my publisher The Book Folks, and that means being faced with the dreaded blank first page.So, how do writers get going under such circumstances? How do they start writing their story? Well, in this hectic world, I have always felt that there is a lot to be said for holding back and allowing myself a little time to…See More
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