Many libraries are struggling during the pandemic restrictions, so it's more appropriate than ever that the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) should champion them through its annual award, the Dagger in the Library.

The world-famous CWA Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for more than half a century. Only library staff can…

Delighted to say that there are plenty of decent reviews and ratings coming in on Amazon for my twentieth crime novel to be published. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Kill Shot (The Book Folks) plunges DCI Jack Harris into a scenario where what appears to be a local murder not only challenges his view of an old friendship but also…

I am preparing to carry out the final edits on my latest DCI John Blizzard crime novel before sending it to those fine people at my publisher The Book Folks in the New Year - and that means taking as objective a view as I can manage of what I have written.

But what exactly does that mean? Well, for all authors, it means comparing what they have…

I have written before about my fascination with the way that characters evolve during the writing process. For me, when they are revealing things about themselves which you as the writer had not planned, that is when you know that writing is truly working. That your characters have made the transition from cardboard cut-out to real human being.

I am being given a striking example of that the more I work on the latest DCI John Blizzard novel for The Book Folks.

Major characters…

Author Alan McClure, who is based in Dumfries and Galloway, has launched a new youtube channel called Tales fae the Shed, on which he is posting weekly stories and sketches. Well worth checking out at…

Writing a novel is a big undertaking and one that will take up many, many hours so how do you know that it’s going to be worth all that effort? How do you know that the idea ‘has legs’? That you are not going to reach the end and have produced something that does not quite work?

For me, it’s simple. If you have an idea that only mildly occupies…

Delighted to say that there are plenty of decent reviews and ratings coming in on Amazon for my twentieth crime novel to be published. Thank you to all who took the time to give feedback, it is much appreciated.

Kill Shot (The Book Folks) plunges DCI Jack Harris into a scenario where what appears to be a local murder not only challenges his…

Delighted to say that a couple of the older DCI Jack Harris novels published by the Book Folks - Dead Hill and The Vixen's Scream - are enjoying a new lease of life in the Canadian Amazon Kindle British Detectives bestsellers chart - there are some brilliant writers in the top 100 and you can check out the chart at …

As a writer, I find that that it sometimes helps to liken the craft of plotting to completing a jigsaw, in that it’s all about slotting together many disparate pieces.

This thought came to mind as I worked to…

This is a subject I have broached in previous blogs but I feel that it is always worth returning to. As you may know, I teach writers both online and in person (they were the days!) and one of the things I focus on is my golden rules of writing.

This has come to mind again because I am running an online course at the moment and they form part…

I was delighted to have been interviewed by Hannah for the excellent Dorset Book Detective blog, talking inspiration and the path to a life of writing. You can check it out at

https://dorsetbookdetective.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/john-dean-interview-as-a-writer-i-am-usually-inspired-by-a-sense-of-place/

Sometimes in life there come milestones which are worthy of comment and the publication of the latest DCI Jack Harris book Kill Shot (The Book Folks) feels like one such event because it is my twentieth crime novel to make it into print.

The story plunges the detective chief inspector into a scenario where what appears to be a local murder not…

I came across an essay by George Orwell the other day, in which he said: “From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer. Between the ages of about seventeen and twenty-four, I tried to abandon this idea, but I did so with the consciousness that I was outraging my true nature and that sooner or later I should have to settle down and write books.”

I reckon I was also five or six when I knew that I wanted to tell stories. I was…

Pleased to say that the DCI Blizzard mystery Strange Little Girl (The Book Folks) has reached 200 reviews/ratings on Amazon - thank you to everyone who took the time to pass comment.

You can find out more, and buy the book, at…

I teach a lot of writers and some themes crop up time and time again. One of them is how to write with pace. Learning how to write a narrative with the right pace is one of the most important skills, particularly given the vast number of books out there in today’s market.

Get the pace wrong and you are seriously jeopardising your chances of success, get it right and you give yourself a chance of climbing those bookseller charts on Amazon and the like.

So, what does writing a…

I am pleased to say that the latest in the DCI John Blizzard series, published by The Book Folks, is continuing to attract complimentary reviews and ratings. Writing can be a solitary business and feedback from readers is deeply appreciated by authors.

In The Latch Man, Doris Hornsby, the bed-bound matriarch of a notorious criminal family,…

I have been working on a humourous piece for an online group of which I am a member and it drove me to recap on some of the rules for creating comedy.

The first thing to remember is that humour is subjective. What is funny to one person may easily leave another cold. The best approach is write in your own style in the way that pleases you, because, if it makes you laugh, then there will be a whole audience out there who will plug right in to what you're offering. Not everyone but…

One of the big challenges for writers is the way they tackle difficult subjects and it has come to my mind once again as I work on my next Blizzard novel which has at its heart a theme set around the victimisation of the vulnerable.

There are various reasons why writers need to tackle the tough themes, not least because a story about people getting on really well for 60,000 words can tend to be a touch on the boring side!

Introduce something spiky into the narrative – conflict,…

As one of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Libraries Champions, I speak up for libraries whenever I can and given that this week is Libraries Week it is an ideal opportunity.

Libraries are so important -  not everyone can afford new books and libraries are key to developing the reading habit for so many people, particularly…