As you may know from my previous blogs, I am fascinated by the way that stories evolve during the writing process, which can provide the author with a balancing act between the need to plan and the requirement to let the story develop organically.

I am being given a striking example of that the more I write of my latest novel (26,000 words in).

Like many/most/all novelists, I always plan before starting to write a new book, a process which can take several weeks as I explore…

The Crime Writers' Association has published the longlist for its 2020 Dagger awards for the best in crime writing. Some great authors are included and you can read the details here…

As you may know from my blogs, sense of place is important to me as a writer and I have explored the subject in an article written for the excellent TripFiction website, which helps readers to find out more about the areas that inspire authors.

My article examines the importance to me of the North Pennines, which play such a key role in the DCI…

Writing is a hugely complex craft requiring the author to master a wide range of techniques, everything from character point of view to getting the pace right, ensuring that he or she has the grammar correct to creating dialogue that sounds like real people speaking.

However, I believe that at its heart are a small number of golden rules, out of…

Delighted to say that The Book Folks have published the latest in the DCI John Blizzard series.

In The Latch Man, Doris Hornsby, the bed-bound matriarch of a notorious criminal family, calls in the police after she sees an intruder in her room. Blizzard attends in person, bemused that a woman who has spent her life evading the law, now seeks…

The DCI John Blizzard mystery Strange Little Girl (The Book Folks) is approaching 170 reviews/ratings on Amazon and is still well above a four stars status. Many thanks to those who have supported the book, and all my others.

The novel tells how Blizzard and his team take on a gang who are preying on youngsters in the northern city of Hafton…