The writer’s manifesto

I fell asleep for 15 minutes, and woke up with this in my head. 

The Writer’s Manifesto

I, the undersigned writer, understand and accept the following ten conditions:

• I will never be completely happy with my manuscript, because it always could have been just that little bit better.
• Even though I write something great, it may never find a publisher, its due audience, or sell well.
• It may not get the cover it deserves, or even one I like.
• I may have to do most, if not all of my marketing, and spend large sums of money and inexhaustible time on social media with little sales impact.

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Black holes and writing strategies

As a thriller writer, whether action or psychological, the beginning and end of a novel are not usually the danger zones. It’s the middle. That’s the part when things can slow down or get confusing, and the reader can put the book down and begin searching on Netflix… So, you need something to keep the reader, and even the writer, going full steam ahead. And what is more attracting and compulsive than a black hole?

The theory is simple. Whether using a three, four or even five-act structure, there need to be big events, cruxes at the pivotal points, that pull the reader in, make them gasp and think ‘No no no!…

Duelling psychologists…the dead can lie (extract)

I’m working on the new novel, The dead can lie, about Greg Adams, a criminal psychologist whose wife was murdered by a serial killer. A year on, Greg has got nowhere trying to track down the ‘Dreamer’, and comes close to blowing his brains out, when gets a new lead.

I thought I’d show an extract, as people keep asking me what I’m working on. This book is quite different from the Nadia series, as the action is all on the inside, so to speak, as it’s a psychological thriller, though there is some action particularly at the climax of the book.…