I am returning to my theme of how writers evoke reactions in their readers for this blog. Good writing is about triggers with the author using words, phrases, images, places and sensations that reach deep into the reader’s mind.

That reaction will be based on something that the reader has actually experienced, or may be something that the…

I have just written a chapter for my latest Blizzard novel in which my detectives fall out with witnesses then with each other, all of which allows me to come back to one of my familiar themes for my blogs – conflict.

I find that writing becomes easier if there is conflict in the air. Why? Because stories need things to happen and conflicts…

I have just ordered the paperback version of Shots Fired, the latest in the Nash and Moretti crime fiction series written by Ian Robinson and published by The Book Folks.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two in the series so am looking forward to this one as a shooting leads the Metropolitan officers into an investigation taking in…

I am returning to a familiar theme for this blog, namely the right of a character to exist. The subject comes to mind because I am working on the latest DCI John Blizzard novel and, although some of my regulars appear, there is a cast of new characters as well.

The key to creating characters is not to confuse the…

I am delighted to announce that Last Man Alive, the latest book in the series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jack Harris, has been published by The Book Folks -  my 21^st crime novel to appear.

In the book, Harris is on the trail of a missing man whom he suspects of having dementia and being at grave risk, when he makes a…

As a writer, the question of pace dominates my thinking. Whether I am doing final edits on a novel or starting a new one (both of which I have done in the past week) the rate at which the story moves is crucial.

Pace should not be confused with speed. A story with good pace need not necessarily move fast but what it will do is move at a pace…

I am delighted to be part of this…

A newly-launched initiative designed to showcase crime writers will feature in National Crime Reading Month in June with four authors talking about their craft and the publishing industry.

Launched in January, Mug Shots is run by Tall Tales Mysteries, a leading UK murder mystery company based…

I have just finished editing my latest Jack Harris novel and am looking towards my next book, a process which always brings the idea of ideas into sharp focus.

So where do ideas come from? For some writers, stories start with a place, somewhere that strikes them so forcibly that the story unfolds around it. I tend to be like that. Hillsides,…

I’ve recently been involved in a couple of discussions in social media groups about the best way to start a crime fiction story so I thought that I would pass on some of my thoughts.

One of the key things I tell those writers that I advise is that the opening lines of their crime stories are crucial because harassed publishers, overworked…

The Crime Writers' Association has announced this year's eagerly-awaited Daggers award shortlists. Well done to all those selected. You can find out the full details at 

thecwa.co.uk

I have been editing the latest Jack Harris crime novel before sending it off to my publishers The Book Folks and I thought that an insight into the process might prove interesting.

I know that some writers dislike editing, preferring the creative process of filling a blank page, but I love it. Indeed, editing is my favourite part of the whole…

Interested in crime fiction? Then check out my good friend the excellent Bud Craig talking about his craft in the latest instalment of the free Tall Tales Mysteries Mug Shots series of films. Bud, one of the Book Folks stable of writers, talks in particular about sense of place. You can watch the interview at…

Should you so wish, you can check out my views on sense of place in an article specially produced for the excellent Trip Fiction website, at 

Talking Location With… author John Dean – the importance of place Blog |…

I am editing the first draft of the new DCI Jack Harris novel for my publisher The Book Folks and dealing, as writers always do, with the thorny issue of their characters’ past – their back story.

Back story is a common theme in my writing, my teaching and my assessment of manuscripts and a theme that I return to in my blogs on a regular…

Writing is a highly technical business. Sense of place, characterisation, plot, grammar, pace, back story, spelling, these and many more considerations crowd in on an author’s mind with every word that they write.

And rightly so – the manuscript has to be the very best it can be. The writer seeking to be published needs to give themselves the…

Novelist John Dean has announced the 2021 dates for weekend writing workshops at his home between Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, subject to ongoing Covid restrictions.

John, author of 20 crime novels and currently published by London-based The Book Folks, is the creator of the popular DCI John Blizzard and…

The Crime Writers' Association has announced the longlists for this year's eagerly-awaited Dagger awards. Congratulations to all those selected.

You can find out more at

The CWA Dagger Awards 2021 - Longlists Announcement -…

The latest novel in the crime fiction series featuring Detective Chief Inspector John Blizzard is No Age To Die.…

Interested in crime fiction? Then check out the brilliant Martin Edwards talking about his craft in the latest instalment of the free Tall Tales Mysteries Mug Shots series of films, which I have helped to plan with Sara from Tall Tales Mysteries, at…

Plotting is one of the biggest challenges for a crime writer - any writer, in fact - and it can be a tortuous process, not least because it is subject to the Butterfly Effect.

The Butterfly Effect, which is part of Chaos Theory, states that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can cause a hurricane elsewhere.

But…