Just completed the second book in the Paleface trilogy, this one's called How To Zero.

Wasn't sure it was finished until I saw the words 'The End' appear, as if typed by someone else...

What a long, slow process this all is.  I've written the first two novels over six months and now... I've got to wait, get fresh eyes and read them both and edit them both and give them to others to read to make sure they make sense before I even think about who to send them…

Earlier this morning, I appeared on the G-Zone live podcast show with Giovanni Gelati. It was fun to talk with the guy, and I hope he enjoyed my company.

You can listen to a recording of the podcast below. The first parts go into the stories behind my stories, like why I would choose to have a character named "Benjamin" in my novel. Enjoy!

Oh man, Crimespace, it's been moving so quick on my end. Ever since I signed up with Trestle Press, I've been keeping busy with writing, promoting, networking and everything else (not bad things at all). It's time to stop and assess the situation.

Careful, you might turn into a pillar of salt.

I find I've carved out four distinct styles of writing. My various writing projects fall into one of these categories, published and…

While I am looking forward to the May 27 live podcast at 8 a.m., I drunkenly crashed the G-Zone showyesterday evening. (OK, that's a lie, I was invited to an authors roundup by the host, but "crashed" sounds more exciting, doesn't it?)

I felt like an ant next to a herd of elephants amongst the other authors. Vincent Zandri. Big Daddy…

Grease up those tongues for lashing, I'll be making an appearance on Giovanni Gelati's live podcast, "The G-Zone," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop. My live segment airs at 8 a.m. EST on Friday, May 27, 2011, at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop.

"Live" means live-live, not recorded-live. There will even be a number you can dial in to harass me…

When she was in her early twenties, Egyptian writer Ghada Abdel Aal began the complicated process of seeking a spouse. It involved meetings in parental living rooms over awkward glasses of tea. On one such occasion her potential groom spent his time screaming at a soccer game on tv. Another turned out to have a couple of wives already, and a would-be husband who was also a…

It is always a challenge to make characters seem real, but using your own experiences and emotions, like a method actor, takes them a long way.

LINK TO TODAY'S COLUMN:…

Maybe this works for you, but I don't see it coming out on top in my book. The ol' Think in the Shower Method gets the job done for me.

As you prepare for your book to come out, a great thing you can do in advance is to get together a press release, and there are a few sites that will send them out for you for FREE.



The only downside I had with the ones I have sent out is that I wanted to put my contact info as misspoirotatymail.com instead of using the @ sign. Why does this matter? Once that release goes out a bunch of spammers will flood your inbox with a bunch of stuff you don't want or need. Fortunately, they…

On Saturday 18 June between 10am and 4pm I will be running an interactive workshop on How to write compelling crime and thriller novels at Quay Arts Centreon the Isle of Wight.



I was asked if I would run this workshop during National Crime Writing Weekan initiative organised by The…

I've had some great media coverage for the launch of the CWA Young Crime Writers Competition of which I am the judge for the South Coast of England. I've been interviewed live on Portsmouth Live TV, on Spirit Radio and tomorrow I will be on talking to Julian Clegg on BBC Radio Solent at approximately 7.20 am and then chatting to Darren Gamblen on Express FM 93.7 FM on the same morning at 9.30 am.



There's also been coverage in the newspapers, the book trade and on blogs, so it's…