Thriller writer, archaeologist and traveller
It was a pleasure to be invited to the UK Crime Book Club Live event in Leeds this weekend. The convention was a consistently jolly affair, with plenty of laughs considering the grim topics under discussion. In thirty years of writing I've only spoken on five panels, so it was a double pleasure to be... Continue Reading →
It's quiet...too quiet. Yes this blog has been silent for the last month because I've been away from home and didn't want any of the cat burglars or nervous insurance underwriters who follow it to know. On the first of May, Dig Alderney's team of volunteers started to excavate a large Roman building. We'd explored... Continue Reading →
Flint is back – and with extra content. Lume Books have re-issued the e-book box set of the five Jeffrey Flint archaeology mysteries with new covers, but that’s not all. One feature of my historical thrillers that readers have said they enjoy is the author’s note at the end, so notes have now been added... Continue Reading →
The time has come to launch a newsletter. It will be roughly monthly depending where I am in the world, what I'm writing and whether I'm digging. The title is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, reflecting that I'll be posting pieces on my whole range of books from historical thrillers to archaeology mysteries plus the... Continue Reading →
I was contacted by news presenter Kamran Arshad who was interested in how I combined my life as an archaeologist with that of a writer, and how one influenced the other. The full 24 Minute interview is here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtmXSFK99TA&t=209s
2023 began with me catching covid again, unfashionably late. Once recovered, January was absorbed by helping clear the family home, so little writing, travelling or archaeology at all! It was minus two the day we filled the skip. By February I managed to get out and about again, hiking over Malham Cove in a balmy... Continue Reading →
The Eboracum Festival is an annual event held in York, and features an author tent replete with authors of Roman themed novels and textbooks. Our encampment was pitched in front of the Multangular Tower that marks the NW corner of the defences of the Roman fortress. A Centurion makes the Prize Draw with Roma Nova... Continue Reading →
Shetland Noir was a hoot; three full days of panels, seminars and interviews capped by a party, a ceilidh and a quiz. It was only the second time the event had been staged, the most northerly of British crime writing festivals. The venue was the Mareel arts centre, slap on the waterfront at Lerwick where... Continue Reading →
Don't we all want to travel the world, discover ancient treasures and punch Nazis? Archaeology may make a great backdrop to serial-style Boy's Own adventures or schlocky horror, with archaeologists portrayed either as action heroes or crusty academics, but it can also inspire more serious fiction. Archaeology is the perfect field for fictional adventures and... Continue Reading →
May has seen a swift change of hats from thriller writer to archaeologist and traveller. And then back again. Quite literally, as my trusty leather packer hat is an essential piece of kit for two weeks in the sun. It folds into a suitcase and is tough enough to be thrown onto the dusty ground... Continue Reading →