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,…