Thriller writer, archaeologist and traveller
Winter keeps up its stubborn rear-guard action, but at least dismal February is done with. All three of my personas have been distracted during the cold months. Normal life stopped for Christmas, then stopped again for my second helping of covid. Essential family commitments ate up much of January and February, squeezing my writing time.... 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 →
As many authors do, I write many drafts of my books. Partly this comes from the early years in which I had very little time to write, and fitting writing into irregular time slots resulted in untidy early drafts. Draft 4 is what I call my Continuity Edit. I have a story with a beginning,... Continue Reading →
'Thriller Writer, Archaeologist and Traveller' it says at the head of the website, and that was the plan at the end of 2019. Then guess what happened to spoil everyone's year... and the one after that too. Never one to be in fashion, it wasn't until the second anniversary of lockdown that I went down... Continue Reading →
Yes Crimefest is back! After having been cancelled twice due to covid, a big question mark hung over the Bristol crime extravaganza’s future. Many attendees rolled our 2020 tickets over to keep supporting the team, and Specsavers stepped in to ensure it could go ahead this year. Attending three days of panels, choosing between two... Continue Reading →
The exciting news this week is that I've had a short story accepted for the Crime Writer's Association anthology Music of the Night edited by Martin Edwards. The CWA has published an anthology most years since its foundation in 1956 and it's an honour to be published alongside two dozen leading crime writers. All the... Continue Reading →
It felt like a return to normality, a real live crime writing conference with actual live authors. Zoom conferences never did it for me – I’d quickly drift off, or busy myself doing something else whilst my camera was off. This July saw the welcome return of the Theakeston’s Crime Writing Festival at the Old... 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 →
All Jason Monaghan books that are available as ebooks are now listed on Bookbub. This American site is worth joining is you are an avid consumer of ebooks, crime or otherwise. They routinely post pre-publication deals and book giveaways to subscribers, and its free to join. Why not join Bookbub and follow Jason Monaghan's page?... Continue Reading →
I love a good epic – and some epics aren’t that good but I’ll watch them anyway. Ancient Rome has long been the inspiration for big-budget movies and television series. I say ‘inspiration’ because scriptwriters have no qualms over dodging hard historical fact to scurry down alleyways of their own. The costume department is often... Continue Reading →