Behind the Scenes at a Cover Shoot!
As a newbie crime author the excitement of my first book deal, delivering the manuscript, making it through the editing process, consumed my attention for many months. Then it was Continue Reading →
Category Archives: Insider Tips
Braving the Bar – N J Cooper
Standing on the threshold of the bar at the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival can be intimidating: everyone but you seems to know everyone but you; there’s laughter at Continue Reading →
The Case For Leeds by John Barlow
Back in 2002 I was about to have my first book of fiction published, a collection of three novellas all set in Yorkshire. One was based in my own village Continue Reading →
Mon oncle: crime fiction and real-life research by John Barlow
Write about what you know! That’s what they say. And it makes a lot of sense. If a writer can draw on personal experience – a specific setting, a series Continue Reading →
From Traditional Publishing to Self-Publishing: Ten Reasons Why You Should Jump Now by John Barlow
A cold, crisp February evening in 2002. We got a cab from our hotel on Times Square and cruised down Broadway in the rush hour traffic. I was reading at Continue Reading →
Creative Thursday- Top Tips
For those that couldn’t make it along to this year’s Creative Thursday, we want you to share your tips from the day. What gems did you take away from the Continue Reading →
Creative Writing Courses – What do *you* think?
Creative Thursday is a day-long crime fiction creative writing workshop which takes place each year on the opening day of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. Creative Thursday gives Continue Reading →
“Keeping the Faith” by Shona MacLean
Hanging on to hope and a little bit of self-esteem through the rejections: When I was writing my first book, I hardly told anyone. Just my husband and my children Continue Reading →
“How to Write Suspense” by Katherine Howell
My interest in suspense began when my agent told me that the draft of my novel Frantic had none. The story is about the kidnapping of a child—an inherently suspenseful subject, Continue Reading →
“A Question of Editing” by NJ Cooper
All relationships that involve issues of emotion are tough. Marriages founder on mis-matched expectations and a failure to empathise with the problems and sufferings of the ‘Other’. Patients and nurses Continue Reading →
“How I Got Published” by Charlie Williams
I was sitting in the spare room. It was only a room in the technical sense, having four walls, a door and a defective window. We’d just about squeezed a Continue Reading →
Philip Patterson Q & A
One of the benefits of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate is that publishers, authors and agents are more pliable to handing out their business cards at Continue Reading →