December 2018 Blog Posts (16)

Creative writing class at Galleries

I am delighted to be again leading this popular course:…

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Added by John Dean on December 20, 2018 at 9:15 — No Comments

Selkirk Speakers Club

Really excited to have been invited to be a guest at the Selkirk Speakers Club with fellow crime writer Ian Patrick. The event happens at the Selkirk Arms in Kirkudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, on the evening of Thursday February 7, 2019 at 7pm.

The format is a buffet supper…

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Added by John Dean on December 19, 2018 at 9:42 — No Comments

Fitting the pieces of the jigsaw together

I love it when a novel starts to assume a life of its own. I am 32,000 words into the new DCI Jack Harris novel and things are slotting together nicely now.

That was not always the case. Writing is like a jigsaw and, whereas at the beginning of the process, the author has lots of fragments floating around, in time they start to make sense.

Relationships between characters start to come together, plotlines link up, lines of dialogue find their home. That is what is happening at…

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Added by John Dean on December 18, 2018 at 11:46 — No Comments

Thou Shalt Be Reviewed



You can check out the reviews of the latest Jack Harris novel Thou Shalt Kill (The Book Folks) at …

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Added by John Dean on December 17, 2018 at 13:44 — No Comments

'Come on, dear reader, come with me'

I recently assessed a manuscript for an aspiring writer and was delighted to discover that they understood the importance of a good beginning to a novel.

The opening chapter got the book off to a cracking start. Opening…

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Added by John Dean on December 17, 2018 at 11:28 — No Comments

Keeping control of the back story



One of the biggest lessons I have had to learn as a novelist is how to create pace. It’s a lesson about which I continually remind myself and which I find myself often writing about when I carry out assessments of…

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Added by John Dean on December 12, 2018 at 9:30 — No Comments

Creating tension in crime fiction

As part of my work, I am often hired to assess aspiring authors’ manuscripts and one of the recurring themes that crops up in the reports that I write is how to build tension.

Tension is crucial in crime fiction but…

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

Good reviews





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Added by John Dean on December 10, 2018 at 10:00 — No Comments

How landscape inspire writers

As I have said in previous blogs, I have always believed that a writer is influenced to some degree by where they live and work. I know it is a gross generalisation but I am sure that a writer writing in a dark, cold landscape produces different fiction than one in a bright sunny one.…

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Added by John Dean on December 8, 2018 at 19:00 — No Comments

Triggering ideas

I am preparing a writing workshop which focuses on ideas and which will attempt to spark some ideas for stories from those present in the room.

As anyone…

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Added by John Dean on December 8, 2018 at 15:34 — No Comments

Chart success





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Added by John Dean on December 7, 2018 at 9:00 — No Comments

When ideas find you



As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I’ve been doing a lot of teaching on the idea of ideas lately and among the quotes I came across during my research was “People always want to know: Where do I get my ideas? They're everywhere. I'm inspired by people and things around me” from Gwendolyn Brooks, an American poet.

That is certainly true…

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Added by John Dean on December 5, 2018 at 14:19 — No Comments

Book enjoys a good year

A year after being published by The Book Folks, The Railway Man continues to be my best performing title in the Amazon Kindle Top 100 British Detective stories, currently occupying Number 87.

In the book, few tears are shed when an ex-boxer and local hard man is found dead in a disused railway signal box. When DCI John Blizzard is called in to…

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Added by John Dean on December 3, 2018 at 14:41 — No Comments

The thinking behind my online crime fiction course

I recently did a Q and A session for a magazine to promote our online crime fiction course and thought it would be of interest. If you wish to find out more about the course, you can contact me on deangriss@btintenet.com…

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Added by John Dean on December 3, 2018 at 10:00 — No Comments

New titles



The Book Folks have some cracking new books out, including Vengeance Blind by the excellent Anna Willett, a thriller full of suspense and intrigue. You can find out more about all the latest books at…

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Added by John Dean on December 3, 2018 at 9:30 — No Comments

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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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