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…

I am always interested in what triggers a new character for a writer. When and how do they burst into life?

I am thinking of this once again because I am working on the latest DCI John Blizzard novel for the Book Folks and, although some of my regulars appear, I needed some new characters as well, preferably trailing behind them a new plotline!

For me, characters often start out with the jobs I need them to do within the story. They are not there to fill space, they’re there to…

I am working on my latest crime novel for The Book Folks and, as is often the case, I am drawing on incidents witnessed in my own life. Not re-telling the stories but using them to inspire my fictional plots.

For me, it helps to provide a sense of authenticity if I have some sort of experience of what I am writing about. As the old adage goes, ‘write about what you know’.

Of course, I have not experienced everything but I do find that dipping into my life is helpful.…

The DCI Blizzard novel Strange Little Girl (The Book Folks) is closing in on 200 Amazon reviews/ratings - you can find out what the reviewers say at…

The Debut Dagger competition for new crime writers, which is run as part of the Crime Writers' Association's annual Dagger awards, opens for entries on October 1. Entries can be submitted until the closing date of February 26 2021.…

A quick reminder that crime novelist and creative writing tutor John Dean is running an online Crime Fiction Course.

John, author of 19 novels and currently published by London-based The Book Folks, is the creator of DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris.

The online course, which runs in eight parts and can begin at a time and date to…

There has been a lot of debate among writing circles about how authors handle Covid-19. It’s a really interesting question and I, like other writers, have given it a lot of thought. In the end, although my books are set in modern day, I have opted not to weave the virus into my plots.

There are three reasons, one of which is that, for all I like to make people think about the world in which they live, I believe that there’s more than enough said and written about the virus without me…

Having just finished my latest novel for The Book Folks, my mind turned to its title. I like to have the title fixed before I start writing, as was the case here, but it is always worth going back to it later on to see if it remains relevant and accurately reflects the story you have created. In this case, Kill Shot fits perfectly.

It’s worth…

Good writing is about evoking reactions in your readers and that can sometimes take them on a journey into the darkest corners of human experience. For the crime writer, the dark corners come with the territory. They are the territory.

It is an important thought for crime writers – indeed, all writers - because good storytelling is…

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. 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, calls in the…