Sometimes, I find myself telling a writing student that they ‘have given their idea’ away, by which I mean that the idea for a story is a really good one but that it has been wasted.…

One of…

What brings hardened city gangland figures to the North Pennines and one of them to his violent death? DCI Jack Harris must find out…

Seeking inspiration for your writing? Fancy writing in a 160-year-old house on a hill? Looking to learn more about how writers draw inspiration from their surroundings? Like to find a peaceful corner of a garden to write (weather permitting!)? And all with delicious home-cooked meals?

Then this is a reminder that a weekend course at Kettle Knowe near Castle Douglas is for you. Best-selling crime novelist and creative writing tutor John Dean is offering courses for your writing group…

At the heart of every crime novel is a strong story. But how do you put it all together? Well, at the heart of any interesting story is the way characters overcome obstacles through their own skills…

I think good writing is good writing because it triggers responses in its readers. Readers say ‘I have been in that situation',  ‘I know someone like that’ or ‘what a terrible thing to be faced with, how would I react?'’ etc etc.

If readers feel like that, it means that they are being drawn into the story. They stand next to your characters, they fear for what is about to happen, they simply must know what is on the next page.

If a reader does not really care what is happening…

The latest DCI Jack Harris novel has been published by the Book Folks. Thou Shalt Kill is my seventeenth crime novel to be published.

Book details: When a man is discovered murdered by crucifixion, an evangelical religious group falls under suspicion.

A dead body nailed to a shed unsettles even hardened detective Jack Harris. Despite being told that…

I recently taught a class on horror writing, as part of a creative writing course I was running. The session threw up that old chestnut. How much gore do you use? Do you leave it to the reader's imagination or soak them in blood on every page?…

I have always said that I write fast and edit slow, by which I mean that I hurl words onto the page then spend most of the time working and reworking them, rather like a…

 Just a quick reminder that best-selling crime novelist and creative writing tutor John Dean has launched an online Crime Fiction Course.…

As part of my teaching of aspiring authors, I am often asked what they need to consider when writing a novel. I always say that, if…

My DCI Jack Harris crime novel The Vixen’s Scream, published by the Book Folks, is on special offer of just 99p/99 cents for a short…

As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I have just started work on a new DCI Jack Harris crime novel and, yet again, the process has focused my thoughts on beginnings.

The first rule of opening lines is that they should possess most of the individual elements that make up the…

I have had a few reviews from readers on Amazon lately that praise the way my characters feel like they are real people. I am greatly gratified by such comments. It’s what all writers seek to achieve.

I guess those readers can make such comments because, although they are fictional, my characters are also real people, comprising bits taken from people I know. A wisp of hair here, a jacket there, a prejudice from someone else.

I take a lot of time developing my characters but always…

I have a growing number of readers in Canada so I am delighted that Canada-based crime fiction reviewer Jim Napier has featured The Secrets Man on his award-winning Deadly Diversions website.…

I have just started work on a new DCI Jack Harris novel. I have a strong idea and a strong setting but, as always happens in writing, I get stuck from time to time. The cursor hovers over the page but nothing happens.

How do I get over the problem? Simple. I close my eyes and imagine myself there with my characters. What can they see, what can they hear,…

I have written before about reviews. As I said last time, if a review has useful points to make I always take them away with me, think them over and address them in my writing if I feel it is necessary.

However, they can sometime…

Delighted to say that, as of today (September 6, 2018), I have five titles in the Amazon Kindle Top 100 British Detectives chart, including The Railway Man. You can find the full Top 100 at …

I am delighted to have been named one of the CWA's Libraries Champions - here is the full story

The Crime Writers’ Association has appointed new Libraries Champions based in England,…