Writing a crime series and keeping each novel fresh is always a challenge for crime writers. There are now nine in the DI Andy Horton series and number ten, Death Surge, is being published by Severn House in September 2013 in the UK and on 1 January 2014 in the USA. So DI Horton has come a long way since first appearing in Tide of Death in 2006.

So how does a writer keep the series fresh and the central character of interest to readers?

Readers buy my books…

CrimeFest 13 was buzzing. It was great to catch up with some of my fellow crime writers, meet lots of lovely crime fiction fans and meet up with my publisher, Severn House.

The panel session on Friday morning was well received by a lively audience and my In the Spotlight Session later the same morning where I talked about "The Perfect System for Writing a Crime Novel" was standing room only.…

I always draw on my life and career experiences when developing new characters

for my novels. FBI Agent J.J. McCall is no different. She's actually very

loosely based on an FBI Agent I worked with during my 12 year tenure at the

Bureau. Of all the agents I worked with, and I worked with quite a few, she

always stood out in my mind for many reasons.



One reason she clings to my

memory is that she was, at least at the time, the only African-American…

What follows is originally published at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-go-indie-control-control-control.html

For the past two months I've been vying for the same positions as Debbi Mack, a writer whom I hadn't heard of until I made the connection one Sunday morning not too long ago when I saw her name appear on the New York Times Bestseller List. Not only was I taken aback since…

Recently my contract with a publisher was coming to term and I decided not to renew it. Sales were non-existent, and aside from that, I just wasn't happy with certain aspects of my novel (my fault). The cover didn't appeal to me either. I explained this to my publisher.

 …

It’s a deep-freeze with a record amount of snow in the Ol ‘Peg. February has started with a cold snap and general crankiness with shoveling on my part. This can be the tough month, but it tends to be one of my busiest for some reason. For those you putting together various proposals for March 1st deadline for funding, you know what I mean. I have a project I would like to put forward, but I’m waiting to hear about a gig, and that answer will come down tomorrow (Wednesday). If it goes ahead,…

Well here we are. My first entry using a new tool. I have used Blogger in the past, but found the templates and look of the thing to be unappealing. I tried a paid hosting site called Squarespace, but found it expensive for what I was getting for my buck. Squarespace’s Gallery was buggy and the final straw was the jumpy, inconsistent nature of its blog entry function. If something as simple as writing text and posting an entry becomes a chore, you can bet your bottom dollar (especially in…