Crime Writing Confidential

A great opportunity to broaden horizons ...

2019-02-21T23:47:00.000+00:00

A change of pace for this blog (not that it could get any slower ... ): I'm advertising a promotion. This is a collection of books and box sets under the name of 'Love & Hate' - a collection that includes books from both the Romance and Crime Noir genres.

The work of mine that's up on offer is actually the first Sam Dyke Investigates set, featuring Altered Life, The Private Lie and The Hard Swim. The offer lasts from 22-24 February and the book - like the others - is available for only 99c or 99p.

This is the link to the page where you'll see my collection and books from a wide variety of other authors. Give them a go! https://doublecrosslit.weebly.com/promo.html/#

I'm outsourcing this post ...

2017-04-14T00:30:00.000+01:00

You probably won't know it - yet - but the title of this blog is a clever pun based on one of the books by my guest blogger today, Eric Gates. He's the author of several thrillers which I guess deserve the prefix techno-, dealing as they do with aspects of contemporary technological life.

Eric has had an interesting and varied career (as you'll see from his bio at the end) and here he provides an equally interesting insight into how he produces his fast-paced and exciting thrillers. His blog is also very well worth a read if you're interested in thriller writing as he brings together other writers to talk about a subject of their choosing.

So, let's move on!

How do you go about beginning your novel – do you plot, or do you begin and then see where it takes you? Why do you do it that way?

My method in my madness is to start at the end. Yes, it does sound like something out of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, right? Where’s the King of Hearts when you need him? Seriously, having ‘defined’ how a story will end gives me a clear goal to work toward. Obviously, the definition of my initial ending idea is subject to change, sometimes considerably, as I write the tale, but it does allow me to create the theme and message of the novel and stay on track throughout.

Once I have an ending, the next part to be defined is the start. How is the tale going to open? Who will feature in the opening? What questions (hooks) will I pose for the reader? I confess on spending considerably more time on this (say the first three to four chapters, sometimes as many as ten given the chapters tend to be short) than on defining the ending. Not only do I seek to establish the story at the beginning of the novel, but also create a high degree of tension and emotional response (engagement) in the reader, as well as imbue these chapters with a rhythm that will draw the reader into the tale.

The rest is relatively easy (he quipped, smiling) …just propel the narrative from that bombshell opening in the direction of the ending I have in mind. Who said this writing thing was hard?

I don’t outline the novel beforehand as such, but do use Mind Mapping tools to develop ‘scenes’ which could become several chapters, as I go along. This way both the characters and the tale itself can breathe and remain fresh.

What are your thoughts on ‘style’? Is it something you’re aware of while writing? Do you focus more on the story, or on how it’s told?

I write thrillers so keep in mind the generic style constraints for this genre (tension, pace, complex characters, cliffhanger chapters, and a solid storyline) as I write. These characteristics in turn have helped me develop a very personal writing style over the course of my novels. For instance, I have lots of tricks that I will use to keep the pace moving fast throughout, though sometimes deliberately slowing this to ensure my readers don’t end up having any coronary issues and preparing the tale for another gallop (the RollerCoaster effect). This results in the words ‘page-turner’ and ‘fast-paced’ often being used in reviewing my novels. Nowadays I tend to use these tools subconsciously and focus more on the tale itself.

How and when do you do research for the book? Before you start, or as and when you need?

Neither one nor the other. When I have, or generate, an idea for a book, I do broad research into the subject areas it touches upon. I then fuse several of the concepts encountered, looking for an original approach. Once this emerges, detailed investigation follows (lots of reading and note-taking, and not just the Internet, I might add). Next, given my personal history, I will apply anything I have experienced or know about to the story to add believability and authority to the tale. Yes, as I’m writing, I will continue to sniper-research subjects though these are usually highly focused searches for specific details, such as the fuel range of a specific private jet, for example.

How do you deal with Point of View? Do you always use First Person, or Third Person, or do you move between them? What problems are you aware of because of the choices you make?

Generally I pick a character and write the chapter in the Third Person from their point of view. As my chapters are usually short, this allows me to use a different character’s viewpoint in the next chapter without falling into the ‘head-hopping’ trap. So far, this method has not created any issues in telling the tale I want to in the way I wish it to unfold.

How do you go about editing or revising the drafts of your book? What governs the choices you make?

With massive amounts of Patience, and constant use of a piece of software (Stylewriter) I picked up for helping with self-edits. Why is the software so important? Well, to be brief, the answer is in an article on my website: http://www.ericjgates.com/TipsTricksSelfie.html

Are you conscious of being influenced by any particular authors or genre-specific elements when writing? How do those influences affect your writing?

Yes. I have three very strong influencers: Charles Dickens (he was a thriller writer too, did you know?), British author John Gardner, and Ian Fleming. All three have provided me with lessons (only John in the flesh, I might add. I’m not that old!) which I maintain alive in both the tales I tell and the way I do this.

Tell us about your latest book, especially any challenges it set you.

My latest, ‘Primed’ is the sequel to ‘Outsourced’ and is, to a great degree, a reaction to demands from readers for more of the protagonists. The challenge I faced with this book is the unique storyline I developed for ‘Outsourced’. I didn’t want this to be an episodic story reminiscent of a TV series, rather an opportunity to learn more about the protagonists and the personal challenges they faced because of the way their lives had been changed by what happened in the first book. To achieve this, it became clear early on that I needed what was almost a standalone story as the engine for the events, and I think that worked well in the end.

Please tell us a little about yourself and how you’d like to be contacted via social media, and also where to buy your books.

Biography:

Eric J. Gates is an ex-International Consultant who has travelled extensively worldwide, speak several languages, and has had articles and papers published in technical magazines in six different countries as well as radio and TV spots.

His specialty, Information Technology Security and Cyberwarfare, has brought him into contact with the Intelligence community on several occasions.

He is also an expert martial-artist, having been trained in over 25 different fighting arts. He has taught his skills to members of various Police, Military and Special Forces units, as well as Private Security firms, Bodyguards and the public.

He is the author of several thriller novels, details of which can be found on his web, http://www.ericjgates.com which explore the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.

Amazon Author page links:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B0030H3Y3A/

US: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0030H3Y3A/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eThrillerWriter

Blog: http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/

Global links for the some of the novels:

the CULL book 1 – Bloodline (FREE) http://authl.it/B00AGZ27FA?d

the CULL – Bloodline Universal non-Kindle link (FREE): http://books2read.com/u/bwB5e4

Outsourced http://authl.it/B00NNNCA7M?d

Primed http://authl.it/B01E49VHHC?d

Leaving Shadows http://authl.it/B00DJANLQS?d
Full Disclosure http://authl.it/B007XIR5Z0?d

An alternative blog about alternative history!

2017-04-07T00:01:00.000+01:00

This blog is intended to throw a light on how crime and thriller writers put together their work. This week, in a change to my usual analyses, I've passed the baton and asked Alison Morton to talk to us about her processes when writing her highly successful alternative histories.

So far Alison has written 5 books in her Roma Nova series, with the sixth, Retalio shortly to be released.

For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, alt-history posits the idea that some actual historical fact didn't take place, or that it did, but in a different way or with a different outcome. So, for example, the recent television series made from Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle considered what might have happened had Germany and Japan won World War II.

So now let's get on with the questions ...

How do you go about beginning your novel – do you plot, or do you begin and then see where it takes you? Why do you do it that way?

As I write a series within one setting – an imaginary country called Roma Nova – I already have some idea of the environment and the characters within it. For the first three thrillers, I was burning to get the heroine’s story out, so just attacked the keyboard. The second three books centred round a prominent secondary character from the first three; I just wanted to know the secrets from her younger life and so I had to write the books to find out!

I plot about 15% and write 85% ‘by the seat of my pants’. I know where the story starts and where it has to end. After sketching out a few essential story points, off I go.

What are your thoughts on ‘style’? Is it something you’re aware of while writing? Do you focus more on the story, or on how it’s told?

The story is the essential thing. Readers need enough detail to get the smells, sounds and sights of the setting but no more than absolutely necessary to the story. My aim is to write as tightly as possible and let the reader infer things.

How and when do you do research for the book? Before you start, or as and when you need?

Luckily, being a complete ‘Roman nut’ from the age of eleven, I have a reasonable background of Roman culture and life not to have to dive into a reference book or online site all the time. My six years in the military takes care of that side, although I do have to check up on precise details such as honeycombing on rifles and types of Glock. In the second trilogy set late 1960s-early 1980s I had to research forensic knowledge available at that time. You can’t use DNA profiling in 1968! Even though my books are set in an alternative timeline, I like to keep as near as possibly to contemporary technology.

How do you deal with Point of View? Do you always use First Person, or Third Person, or do you move between them? What problems are you aware of because of the choices you make?

I write almost exclusively in the first person. I like to know what’s going on in my protagonist’s head, her motivation and reactions and her emotions. Many writers consider it’s limiting to only have one view on events in the story, but I see this as a delicious way to set up conflict and misunderstanding. The narrator only truly knows what she sees, or senses herself; everything else is (her) speculation.

How do you go about editing or revising the drafts of your book? What governs the choices you make?

I print out what I think is the final version of my draft, then carry out a harsh self-edit, red pen in hand, looking for overwriting, adverbs, wobbly dialogue, over-use of qualifiers like ‘very’, ‘rather’ and ‘quite’. I check the timeline for the main story, then for each character. Then it goes to my critique partner of many years who has the eye of an eagle and the instincts of a velociraptor. After any revisions, the manuscript goes to a (paid) structural editor who checks for story cohesiveness, plot holes, pace and voice. After the inevitable, but these days thankfully few, revisions it goes to the (paid) copy editor to be shuffled into a print-ready version. I explain more fully here.

Quality is essential for me and I owe it to the reader to make the finished book the best it can be.

Are you conscious of being influenced by any particular authors or genre-specific elements when writing? How do those influences affect your writing?

One of my first influences was Robert Harris’s Fatherland; it introduced me to alternative history. But more than that, to writing a pacey crime mystery within such an alternative timeline. There is no great exposition of their world; the characters live (to them) normal and natural lives within it. Alternative history has rules – a point of divergence from the standard timeline with no return, a properly built world, and writing the consequences of the divergence. These rules must be firmly planted in your head, but like the iceberg, not show in your writing. The thriller, crime or mystery is the most important thing, but the alternative world forms the framework.

Tell us about your latest trilogy, especially any challenges it set you.

AURELIA is a crime thriller and sets up the rivalry between Aurelia Mitela, an ex-Praetorian Guard and Caius Tellus, an amoral but intelligent predator. I had to do massive research on 1960s technology and German courts, prisons and legal procedures! INSURRECTIO is more of a political thriller where a charismatic leader of a nationalist movement makes a grab for power. Of course, Aurelia tries to stop him. The last book in the trilogy, RETALIO, which is out on 27 April, is a story of resilience and resistance with plenty of doings by ‘the ungodly’ (as Simon Templar would describe them).

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Please tell us how you’d like to be contacted via social media, and also where to buy your books. Please add a short biography, too.

Bio

A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison Morton continues to be fascinated by that complex, power and value driven civilisation. Armed with a masters’ in history, six years’ military service and the love of a good crime thriller, she explores via her award winning Roma Nova novels the ‘what if’ idea of a modern Roman society run by strong women.

The sixth book, RETALIO, will be published on 27 April. In the meantime, Alison lives in France with her husband, tends her Roman herb garden and drinks wine.

Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison-morton

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton

Amazon author page: http://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon

Buying link for all formats (paperback, ebook, audio) of all books:
http://alison-morton.com/books-2/buying-links/

*******

Thanks, Alison! Very interesting stuff! I hope Retalio does as well as the other books have so far.

Finally, I'd like to point out that the new Paul Storey thriller, One Punch, is now available for pre-order. It'll be on sale on May 8th at a starting price of 99 cents or 99 pence. You can click on the link here, or the cover image at the top left of the blog, to be taken to your nearest Amazon site in order to pre-order it. Thanks! One Punch Pre-Order

"Trouble comes not in single spies ... "

2016-12-11T16:49:00.000+00:00

That's Shakespeare, that is.

But in this case I've taken a liberty, because it's not trouble but good fortune that's coming my way.

So I'm sitting at my desk waiting for a Skype call to come in so I can record a podcast for Dave Core at thrillsandmystery.com. And then the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) publishes on their website a brief article I wrote on 'The Secret of My Success'.

Success Stories

Moments after that's published, and while I'm still waiting at my desk, I get another email from a man saying he's just read this article and would I like to record a podcast on my Self-Publishing Journey?

Self-Publishing Journeys

I guess this is what they call a virtuous circle ...

I told you I was bad at marketing ...

2016-11-16T10:38:00.000+00:00

So bad that within a week of posting a blog trumpeting my latest book, I changed the cover. I do it just to confuse you.

Anyway, here's the latest iteration. I decided to go for something cooler, having spent a lot of time browsing books in my genre to see which covers I liked. I thought I liked the multi-coloured, action-packed whiz-bang ones ... but when it came to it, the covers that appealed to me most were ones that created an atmosphere with a strong graphic and tasteful typography.

So that's what I've moved towards.

The photograph is actually of Aleppo in Syria, and while the city itself isn't featured in the book, the country and its devastation plays a large part in how the story unfolds.

Redirecting ... redirecting ...

2016-11-10T10:12:00.001+00:00

It's strange to be using a rare blog post just to direct you somewhere else, but that's how I roll ... So, that wonderful supporter of other writers, my friend Eric Gates, has hosted an article by me on how I created the villains for my latest novel, Storey.

It got me thinking about how I arrived at the characters and personalities of the bad guys and gals, and made me realise, especially, that once they begin to establish themselves in the books, their personalities not only affect how I write them, but how they even begin to 'see' themselves in the books. And that in turn changes how I write them ... a virtuous circle sorta thing.

Anyway, the post is called Criminal Behaviour, and can be found on Eric's excellent site, here: Thriller-Writer

To buy the book, you can click here to be taken to the nearest Amazon store to your location.

If that doesn't grab you it's also available on Apple's iBook store, on Kobo and the old stalwart Barnes and Noble's Nook.

In other news ...

My fourth Sam Dyke novel, The Bleak, is one of 8 crime novels featured in a new anthology called Britain Turns to Crime. A great honour to have been asked. It's available for only 99p or 99cents, from this Amazon link: Britain Turns to Crime. Here's the ad I've been running on Twitter.

I'm so bad ...

2016-10-15T13:12:00.001+01:00

... at Marketing!

I've had a new book out for a week and don't appear to have mentioned it on this blog. Well, the original purpose of the blog was to write about other crime writers, not myself, so I suppose I can be excused.

So anyway, here's the cover:

And it's available now and for a short period for only 99p, 99 cents or 99 centimes, depending on your mileage. If you click this link it will take you to the book on your nearest Amazon store so you can buy it for the Kindle or - if your store supports it - in paperback. Storey on Amazon. It's also available for Apple, Kobo, Nook and others from here: Storey worldwide.

HOWEVER, I do have a Marketing push going at the moment, whereby you can get a free copy of the book. You have to be on Facebook, and you have to join my Launch Team group (click Join). Then you can download the book for free ... and even get the Sam Dyke Investigations books for free, too. Read the first post in the group CLOSELY to see how to do that. Here's the link: Storey Launch Team.

In other news, you may have noticed that I've had a revision of my covers for the Sam Dyke Investigations series, as seen on the right of the page, and I've also got several translations in the works. Altered Life is being published in Spanish and has already been published in Portuguese. The Private Lie has been published in Portuguese and Italian, with Spanish to come; The Hard Swim is in the process of being translated into Portuguese and Actress is available in Italian and Portuguese. Phew - I can't keep track of them all!

Finally, if you like listening to audiobooks, then Altered Life, The Private Lie, The Hard Swim and Actress are all available via Audible and iTunes, with The Bleak to follow shortly. Here's a link to the page showing these books (plus one by a chap with the same name ... ). Keith Dixon books on Audible.

Okay, enough marketing from me ... thanks for reading!

Guest Blog - Thriller writer Eric J. Gates

2016-06-14T00:00:00.000+01:00

Today it's my great pleasure to introduce a blog by fellow crime and thriller writer Eric J. Gates. He is a writer with a background more interesting than most who writes contemporary thrillers and is highly successful at it, too. He is also a great friend to writers, promoting them on his own blog and through a tweeting regime second to none!

As the theme of this blog is What crime writers do, and how they've done it, I asked him to write something about the process of writing. And I hope you'll agree he's come up with a fascinating approach.

Write what you know? – the Menu Method

Jumping between the roofs of two skyscrapers, decoding a cryptographic text using just paper and pen, rappelling down a cliff face. These are just a few of the things I’ve done in real life that haven’t appeared in my thriller novels… yet. Then, on the other hand, I’ve never shot a Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile (one of my bad guys did in ‘Full Disclosure’), had a wound cured by genetically modified blood (yep, that happened in ‘the CULL’ series) or used an ancient artefact to modify Destiny (the ‘Outsourced’ series, though I used mine to have Keith invite me to this blog. Shh – don’t tell him) so I guess things have balanced out nicely.

On Amazon

They say (the grey They) “Write what you know”. I’m sure you’ve heard this. Supposedly it’s a piece of advice from Mark Twain. However, is it practical to expect writers just to include stuff they master in their books? I think not. That’s what in-depth research is for. (In-depth means not just relying on the Internet).

Not everyone has had the crazy life I’ve had. My incessant travelling and peculiar profession has allowed me to accumulate a wealth of thriller-esque experiences (and a particular set of skills) I can draw upon for my novels, yet I’m sure I am not an example of the ‘typical’ author in this respect. Many scribes, especially when facing their first books, look at their mundane jobs and life experiences, and despair. ‘Where is the material to populate the pages of a bestseller?’ they ask themselves. Well there’s a little trick I use which might help here, and would probably surprise them in the process. I call it the Menu Method.

Take a blank sheet of paper. Draw a line vertically down the middle. Now on the left hand portion, list out the things you know how to do, not the usual stuff shared by most (making a good cup of tea doesn’t count), but things that you’ve learnt because of what you do and who you are. Can you drive an articulated truck? Do you know how to fly fish? Are you a painter? Do you read ancient manuscripts as a hobby? Think hard, there are bound to be items to include in your list.

Now move over to the right hand side. Here you should list things you would like to do. Sorry, travelling on a one-way trip to Mars as a colonising astronaut may not fit the bill. Keep the items here reasonably practical. Once you have listed a few, go back over them and note down why you’ve not done this already; why is it on the right side of the page not the left?

Fun, right?

On Amazon

But what you have just created is a menu for your writing. Take something, anything, from the left-hand column and contrast it with anything from the right. What would you (or a character) need to do to go from the you of today to the one that is reflected on the right? Whatever you come up with, that’s an idea for a novel right there!

To make the right-hand column entries sound convincing when you include them in your novels, you should mix them with some of the stuff from the left-hand side (even superheroes need to iron their capes, right?). Then to flesh out the items on the right you have two options: learn how to do it (skydiving, ocean swimming, motocross racing etc) or research it in-depth. If the former is not possible, you should start the latter by finding an expert you can contact. Over the years I’ve been constantly surprised just how many people are willing to give of their time and knowledge to help out us poor scribblers. I’ve had University experts in ancient tongues (‘the CULL’ series), even the Dalai Lama’s Head of the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala, India, provide me with information in response to my emails. Just offer to acknowledge their contributions in your books and many will provide you with far more data based on their own knowledge and experience than you could ever use in a story.

You see, you have missed out one important item on the left-hand side of the page.

You know HOW to have people help you when you come up against a problem. That’s something all successful writers do and nothing is stopping you from doing the same.

“Write what you know” may have worked for Samuel Clemens on the Mississippi back in the day, but remember he also said “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education”.

Eric J. Gates - Biography

Eric J. Gates has had a curious life filled with the stuff of thriller novels. Writing Operating Systems for Supercomputers and teaching cyber warfare to spies are just a few of the moments he’s willing to recall. He is an ex-International Consultant who has travelled extensively worldwide, speaks several languages, and has had articles and papers published in technical magazines in six different countries, as well as radio and TV spots. His specialty, Information Technology Security, has brought him into contact with the Military and Intelligence communities on numerous occasions.

He is also an expert martial artist, holding 14 black belt degrees in distinct disciplines. He has taught his skills to Police and Military personnel, as well as to the public.

He is the author of ten thriller novels, drawing on his experiences with the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.

Where you can find him:

Website: http://www.ericjgates.com

Blog: http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Eric-J.-Gates/e/B0030H3Y3A/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eThrillerWriter

The Indie Author Fringe Event - London Book Fair

2016-04-21T00:37:00.000+01:00

For any writers who are interested in a little fun, last weekend I participated in a recorded video for the Indie Author Fringe Event at the London Book Fair. The subject was 'The better way to write a book: Plotter or Pantser' ... this refers to writers who plot out their books in advance as against those who fly by the seat of their pants. The link to the video is here, and if you're a writer you should definitely look out some of the other events at the fringe - they're a great resource of information and advice:

Plotter or Pantser?

The Indie Author Fringe Event - Friday 15th April

2016-04-15T17:00:00.000+01:00

At the London Book Fair this week, the Alliance of Independent Authors, ALLi, is hosting the Indie Author Fringe Event. It runs 24 hours and consists of a number of articles, videos and podcasts from a wide variety of respected voices in the world of self- and independent publishing. If you're an author making your way in this new world you're bound to find something that will be useful or relevant to you.

As it happens, I recorded a video with three colleagues last weekend on Plotters vs Pantsers - that is, what is the difference between authors who plot their works closely and those who fly by the seat of their pants. Is one more effective than the other? Does it matter which route you take? And so on ...

The Event is hosted at this page:

http://selfpublishingadvice.org

And you can see the agenda for the whole event here:

http://selfpublishingadvice.org/indie-author-fringe-april-2016-agenda/

If you see this post in time you can find my humble contribution at these times:

15 April • 7:30 pm • LONDON
15 April • 2:30 pm • NEW YORK
15 April • 11:30 am • LOS ANGELES
15 April • 5:30 pm • SYDNEY

The good news is that even after the event, these articles, videos and podcasts will still be available on the ALLi blog.

A new Sam Dyke short story

2016-03-31T14:32:00.000+01:00

... well, not that new actually. It's been available for a couple of months on Amazon Kindle only, but is available through the Kindle Unlimited borrowing scheme if you don't have the pockets to buy it!

Sam Dyke looks for a missing woman but has doubts about the motives of his client ...

Available now on an Amazon near you! The Second Guess

Catching up on important news

2016-01-03T12:57:00.000+00:00

It seems I forgot to update this blog with info about my new book The Innocent Dead. How stupid is that? So much time spent on the website and FB and Twitter ... some things just fall off the back.

I should also mention that in the interim, The Bleak has won its category in the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE competition - noir/private eye. I win all sorts of prizes for that - a free review (which otherwise costs a fortune), a free run on Bublish, which is a Twitter advertising campaign; and various buntings and badges. Also, it's quite prestigious. So that's nice.

I'll shortly be starting work on the next book, a non-Sam Dyke crime thriller based very loosely on a true story. Why make things up when you can copy real life? ;)

A Nice Thing

2015-07-28T15:28:00.002+01:00

I was surprised and pleased to receive an email from a site called BookWorks.com saying that my novel The Hard Swim had been made their 'Book of the Week.'

BookWorks bill themselves as 'The Self-Publishers Association' and I happen to know they're associated with Publishers Weekly, the bible of bookselling. So it's no small accolade, and I'm appropriately grateful and humbled.

Self-Publish Your Book

2015-05-18T16:37:00.003+01:00

A colleague and friend, Jessica Bell, has had her Facebook page suspended for some mystical - probably mythical - reason, just at the point where she has a new book published. So myself and several other colleagues are publishing her pitch for the book so that she can get at least some promotion while her FB page is down. Here's the pitch:

Are you ready to self-publish your book, but dreading the massive learning curve? Well, there’s no need to dread it anymore!

This 6th installment of the bestselling
Writing in a Nutshell Series, will not overwhelm you with all information available—it will tell you exactly what you need to know, without the faff, by following a foolproof, cost-efficient, time-efficient, extremely easy-to-follow, step-by-step self-publishing method.

Want to go from manuscript to a professionally published book within one week? Then this is the book for you.

You’ll learn how to: prepare your manuscript in Microsoft Word, design your paperback and eBook cover, prepare your front/back matter and blurb, format your paperback interior & eBook, proofread your designed pages, register with desired retailers/distributors, export your eBook to a retail-ready file and upload your paperback and eBook to retailers/distributors.

Not only will this book save you time and money, but it will also save you from inevitable stress. What are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Self-publish Your Book today!

Jessica's an excellent writer, musician and book designer and I'm sure if you're entering the hazardous waters of self-publishing that this book will be a great boon. Rush out and buy it now! (Or stay in and buy it, I don't care which.)

Revisions, revisions ...

2015-05-12T10:52:00.000+01:00

I decided to issue new editions of my Sam Dyke Investigations, with revised covers. I haven't completed all of the work yet, but here's a sample of those I've finished ...

The Secret Sharers

2015-04-26T15:48:00.001+01:00

If you have eagle eyes you'll probably have noticed a new book cover on the right of this page - well, The Secret Sharers will be available for download from 1st May at all the usual sites: Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Kobobooks, iTunes and so on.

If you have the courage to read it, I'd be grateful for a review as reviews drive interest and traffic - which, if I'm to be selfish about it, is good for future work ...

Venture into audiobooks ...

2015-04-08T17:22:00.001+01:00

A quick plug to say that the first Sam Dyke book, Altered Life, is now available as an audiobook. It's read by the wonderful Rob Ellis in a fashion that brings out the Chandleresque tones of the prose (he said hopefully ... )

Rob is working on the other books in the series too, which will be released over the next twelve months or so.

The audio versions will be available through Amazon, Audible and iTunes, so there should be an outlet you can use. There seems to be a deal if you're a first-time user of Audible you can download it for free - can't be bad!

Re-reading Chandler

2015-03-08T14:51:00.000+00:00

Some years after reading Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely, I thought it was about time I read his other most famous novel, The Long Goodbye. I had fond memories of the ‘reworking’ of the story in Robert Altman's 1973 film starring Elliott Gould and wondered how Chandler’s style would stack up against some of the modern crime writers I’d been reading in the last few years.

The Long Goodbye shows Philip Marlowe becoming involved in what appears to be two separate cases but which wind up being connected. The first is his growing friendship with Terry Lennox, who turns out, it seems, to be the murderer of his rich socialite wife. After the friendship ends with Marlowe driving Lennox to Mexico to escape a possible charge of murder, the second storyline picks up: Marlowe is hired by Eileen Wade, the wife of famous novelist Roger Wade, to find her husband, who is a drunk and has either gone off on a bender or is drying out somewhere in a sanatorium. These two plot-lines converge in more violence in which Marlowe is implicated but doesn’t participate.

Shameless promotion ...

2014-11-20T13:06:00.000+00:00

As an inducement to sign up to my Keith Dixon's Novels website, I've added a freebie. If you sign up now, you'll be able to download a free copy of the book I put together of the earlier posts on this blog.

It's actually been one of my best-sellers and has often hovered near the top of the charts for "Writing Skills" on Amazon. Here's a review:

"Excellent. Insightful, entertaining and inspiring. I thoroughly recommend this book to all aspiring authors, regardless of genre."

It's currently retailing at $0.99 or £0.99, but you can have it for free. When you subscribe you won't be bothered too much with messages from me, but you'll get advance notice of new books coming down the pike and the occasional other piece of news.

A short-term deal for The Strange Girl

2014-10-31T11:02:00.001+00:00

Just a quick advisory note: The Strange Girl is on a short-term discount for the 31st October and 1st November, $0.99 or £0.99.

Here's an interesting fact: my last book, The Bleak, is a thriller, part of which is based on the fact that Russia continued exploring the use of chemical and biological weapons even after they, like the US and Britain, signed a pact banning them in 1972. My book uses their failure to act on the ban to explain the chief villain's actions towards the end of the book.

Well, I've just been reading in a history of the British Secret Service that it was believed that during the Cold War, the Russians had buried caches of Ebola, anthrax and psychotropic drugs at various places around the UK, near to reservoirs and our own biological weapons development facility at Porton Down. In case they wanted to attack us.

Whatever you make up, Real Life always trumps you!

Triumphant triumvirate - Lehane, Atkins, Sandford.

2014-10-13T14:34:00.001+01:00

I've recently read three crime novels that remind me - if I needed it - why crime writing is such a vigorous genre.

First I read Dennis Lehane's The Drop, which is a novel based on an earlier short story and which has been made into a film starring Tom Hardy and the great James Gandolfini. Effectively, it's the old story about the worm turning - someone who is put-upon finally deciding that enough is enough and finding the strength to assert themselves. The difference here is that the hero, although quiet and unassuming, was once part of a gang that exercised a violent rule over a part of Boston.

The Strange Girl

2014-09-25T17:34:00.000+01:00

Just a note to say that The Strange Girl will be published tomorrow, 26th September, on more formats than you can care to count.

I'll put just a few here ...

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Kobobooks.com

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble (to follow)

And in paperback here in the US

here in the UK

Ace aces it - The Ranger hits a sweet spot.

2014-09-17T18:39:00.005+01:00

I try to keep a handle on new American writers because I'm always on the lookout for people to learn from.

Ace Atkins surprises me - not because he's good, which he is - but because he's written half a dozen or more books and I hadn't stumbled across him or his work until a few weeks ago.

The Ranger is the first book in the 'Quinn Colson' series. Colson is a Ranger - a high-class Special Forces soldier - who returns at the beginning of the book from seeing action in Afghanistan. You get a sense of the man in the opening paragraph:

Quinn headed home, south on the Mississippi highway, in a truck he’d bought in Phenix City, Alabama, for fifteen hundred, a U.S. Army rucksack beside him stuffed with enough clothes for the week and a sweet Colt .44 Anaconda he’d won in a poker game. He carried good rock ’n’ roll and classic country, and photos from his last deployment in Afghanistan, pics of him with his Ranger platoon, the camp monkey “Streak” on his shoulder, Black Hawks at sundown over the mountains.

Look at the detail in that - Mississippi highway, second-hand truck, 1500 dollars, US Army rucksack, Colt .44 Anaconda, poker game ... concluding with his last deployment in Afghanistan and the Black Hawks in the background. That opening paragraph does so much work in just three sentences, giving us some backstory, some of his personality and even some of his skills ('his Ranger platoon'). We don't get five paragraphs of detailed explanation of who he is, where he's come from and what he can do. We get three packed sentences.

Hold the press ...

2014-09-07T15:36:00.003+01:00

Just a couple of items of news before my next critique post, which will be on Ace Atkins' book The Ranger. He's a new writer to me but he's written quite a lot and has encomia on his book covers from people like Elmore Leonard and John Sandford, so they obviously recognise his worth. He's also written a couple of books taking on Robert B. Parker's Spenser franchise, which I'll also have to catch up on.

First, a note to say that the next book in the Sam Dyke Investigations series will be published on 26th September. It's going through its final edit now and will be available for pre-order from 16th September. Here's the final version of the cover:

Secondly, the translation of Actress into Chinese is coming on apace. I'm receiving queries now about Chapter 17, and as there are 26 Chapters in the book, that means the translation is about two thirds finished. The promised completion date was by Christmas, so they're well on target. There's been a slight delay with the translation into Spanish because the translator has moved house. Hopefully it won't be deferred too long.

Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing the new movie version of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder film, A Walk Amongst the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson. It'll be interesting to see how they translate Block's easy style into a wham-bang Hollywood movie, and Matt Scudder's reasonably passive modus operandi into an all-action hero. I hope it's not a disappointment!

Actress free downloads

2014-08-20T17:42:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note to thank anyone who downloaded for free my contemporary novel, Actress, during the last week. In total there were 4613 downloads of the book between 15th - 19th August, which is one of the more successful freebie promotions I've done. Getting the promotion on Pixel of Ink had a good deal to do with that, as it contributed to 2296 downloads on the day the book was promoted on that site.

Now to see whether this has any knock-on effects on sales of other books, which is the point of it all. If you're interested, the book is now available for £1.49 from Amazon UK, $2.99 from Amazon US, and Euros 2.60 in Europe.

The Strange Girl, which is the next book in my Sam Dyke Investigations series is now entering its final phase of writing. There's about a third of the book left to complete. I think it should be ready, rewritten and proofread in about a month. There, I've not really put any pressure on myself at all ...