The programme has been announced for the first ever Kirkcudbright Book Week, which will run between Monday March 2 and Friday March 6, 2020.

The week is designed to celebrate the developing literary scene in Kirkcudbright and the wider Dumfries and Galloway area and includes a series of mainly free events featuring authors from the area.

Writers appearing over the week include children’s author Alan McClure, poet Chrys Salt, crime writers Jackie Baldwin, Ian Patrick and John…

I have been critiquing a number of manuscripts by aspiring crime writers in recent months and on each occasion, a central part of my report has focused on pace.

One thing that I have learned over the years from reading fiction and observing the changes proposed by my editors, is the importance of pace in the final manuscript.

Get it wrong and you are jeopardising your chances of success. Get it right and it keeps the reader turning the page.

I take these thoughts into my…

Like many crime writers, I am fascinated by the impact that my characters’ past has on their present. The latest DCI John Blizzard mystery, the seventh in the series published by The Book Folks, is a case in point.

In A Flicker in the Night, a spate of murderous arson attacks evoke bitter memories for stalwart detective Blizzard. It was a…

Delighted to say that the DCI Blizzard crime novel Strange Little Girl (The Book Folks) has reached 150 ratings on Amazon. You can find out more at…

As some of you may know from my previous blogs, as a writer I am always inspired by a sense of place; it is something that features prominently in my DCI Harris novels (I am close to finishing the new one).

Whether it be a gloomy city or a stunning hillside, a glass-strewn council estate or a majestic waterfall, something about my surroundings triggers ideas.

So how do writers create sense of place? For a start, it is crucial if you write about a place that the reader can see…

I am currently working on the latest DCI Jack Harris novel and, with 44,000 words already written, I am deep into a series of emotional scenes as people confront the destruction of their dreams.

ndeed, a theme of the novel is the different way that people confront tough realities. The result is that I am creating scenes full of raw emotion and human frailty.

That means that, like many writers, I am drawing on real life experiences. For me, it’s the only way to do it. Writers…

A reminder that best-selling crime novelist John Dean has announced the 2020 dates for weekend writing workshops at his home between Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway.

John, author of 18 novels and currently published by London-based The Book Folks, is the creator of the popular DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris…

The programme has been announced for the first ever Kirkcudbright Book Week, which will run between Monday March 2 and Friday March 6, 2020.

The week is designed to celebrate the developing literary scene in Kirkcudbright and the wider Dumfries and Galloway area and includes a series of mainly free events featuring authors from the area.

Writers appearing over the week include children’s author Alan McClure, poet Chrys Salt, crime writers Jackie Baldwin, Ian Patrick and John Dean,…

The latest DCI John Blizzard mystery, the seventh in the series published by The Book Folks, can be purchased as an e-book or paperback on Amazon.

In A Flicker in the Night, a spate of murderous arson attacks evokes bitter memories for stalwart detective John Blizzard.

It was a defining moment in DCI John Blizzard’s early career when he…

I tutor quite a few writers and so often the discussions come back to dialogue. Dialogue is crucial to any novel. Good dialogue lifts a story, bad dialogue wrecks it.

Writing dialogue isn’t about replicating a real-life conversation, though. It’s about giving an impression of it. If fiction is like real life with the dull bits taken out, the same thing is true of fictional conversations. The role of the writer is to select what’s important.

There are some…

A Facebook group of which I am a member saw someone recently asking if humour is important in crime fiction? I replied saying that the answer is yes, it is, but here are my more detailed thoughts.

For a start, how do you get it right, particularly since there’s an old saying that if you are not a humorous person, don’t try to write humour?

Well, it is only part-true. It is certainly the case that a straight-laced, humourless person might well struggle to write side-splitting…

Looking forward to taking part in this event, which is part of the first Kirkcudbright Book Week

Wednesday March 4 2020

In Conversation With…. Crime Writers Jackie Baldwin and Ian Patrick. Chaired by crime writer John Dean.

7.30pm The Restaurant Selkirk Arms High Street Free event but please book in advance, details to be found at…

I am delighted to be one of the organisers of the first ever Kirkcudbright Book Week, which will run between Monday March 2 and Friday March 6, 2020, and includes World Book Day, which is aimed at younger writers and readers.

The week is designed to showcase the developing literary scene in Kirkcudbright and the wider Dumfries and Galloway area…

Sixty two reviews and counting, Dead Hill (The Book Folks), the book where it all started for DCI Jack Harris, remains at four stars. Thank you to all those who gave it positive reviews. You can read them at…

Characters are our major tools as writers. They drive narratives and reveal things to the reader and what particularly fascinates me is the way that they assume lives of their own.

Take the DCI Jack Harris novel on which I am working (33,000 words and counting). It has been progressing ‘OK’, good plot, strong characters etc and I have mapped out where the story is going but I could not help feeling that something was missing and the story was losing momentum and direction as a result.…

Further to my previous blogs which have touched on the theme of conflict (it’s a key part of a creative writing course I am running at the moment), I thought a few lines on writing arguments might be useful: They shouldn’t have repetitive elements - Unlike real arguments which go in circles for ages, fictionalised ones are short and sharp

They shouldn’t be boring - Arguments are there to forward the plot along. They should reveal something about a relationship between two people or…

I am always interested in what triggers a new character for a writer. When and how do they burst in to life? I am thinking of this because I am working on a new Jack Harris novel and, although some of my regulars appear, I need some new ones.

Characters come in all forms from all types of inspiration. Maybe the prompt for a new character for a…

I am delighted to have featured in Paula Williams’ latest excellent blog, chatting about some of my inspirations as a writer. You can read the full interview at

https://paulawilliamswriter.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/where-does-crime-writer-john-dean-get-his-ideas-from/

I will deliver two free talks in Dumfries and Galloway to celebrate Book Week Scotland in November, both of them looking at the conversation between writer and reader. The theme of Book Week Scotland this year is Blether and I will look at how you can’t always trust the writer to tell the truth!

What do I mean by that? Well, convention dictates…