Thriller writer, archaeologist and traveller
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 →
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 →
Guernsey-based distributor Blue Ormer are now carrying stock of books written or edited by me about Guernsey, plus some to which I'm an editor or contributor. Most were previously difficult to obtain off-island barring occasional re-sellers on Amazon. The address for Blue Ormer's Guernsey history page is here. Discover more The Story of Guernsey in... Continue Reading →
It was a busy week in Guernsey. A Brush With Life - the Art of Peter le Vasseur was published in the UK at the end of July by Lutterworth Press. It had already been available for pre-order on Amazon but we decided to initially play it low key in Peter's home island of Guernsey... Continue Reading →
Plenty of bloggers have by now reported on the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival that took place in Harrogate at the end of July. The huge airy marquee gave it a different feel to pre-pandemic years, but the panels were as engaging as ever. One idea stuck with me; the difference between being a... Continue Reading →
Festival organiser Isabel Picornell, Jason Monaghan and Paul McCormick of Gower Financial Services who sponsored Jason's talk (Lucie Stribrska) It's back! Alderney's small but perfectly formed Literary Festival returned after a two year absence due to covid. What makes the event special is that it concentrates on historical fiction and non-fiction, achieving a satisfying coherence.... Continue Reading →
Twenty-five short mysteries by members of the Crime Writer's Association lie in wait in the new anthology Music of the Night edited by Martin Edwards. As the title suggests each story has a musical theme, spanning different genres and settings. It is a great privilege to appear in such a starry line-up of authors. The... Continue Reading →
In January and February 2021, it snowed, then it snowed again. If this had been a movie it would have been called Lockdown III: The Return of Tedium. I watched a lot of foreign films, took snowy walks and put time into promoting my Jeffrey Flint backlist when it was re-released by Lume. I also... Continue Reading →
Back in 1976 a friend brought a double LP concept album called The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway into school, and over a couple of lunchtimes we sat in the near-darkness of the drama studio entranced. Up to that point, I’d never been much of a music fan and had never heard of Genesis. I’d... Continue Reading →
In the build up to the launch of my next novel I need a new 'author photograph'. Thinking forward I will need a set of images that can be used for different purposes, yet carry a coherent brand image. For many years I used a black-and-white photograph by the talented Alice Turian. She captured the... Continue Reading →