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.…

If you feel like a laugh, take a look at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ca9zod9 - my contrib to multi-author 'novel' WHO IS MURDERING CRIME FICTION...? staged by the Linked-In group for crime writers of which I'm a member....You can read the first three chapters too, if you're hard enough (mine's Chapter 4).

Undercurrent, the ninth in the marine mystery crime series featuring the flawed and rugged detective DI Horton is now published in the UK and Commonwealth by Severn House. It will be published in the USA on 1 May 2013.

Set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England the DI Horton series has received critical acclaim both in the UK and the USA where they have been compared to the works…

Thrilled to see my guest essay on writers keeping the faith despite self-doubt on Psychology Today! Here's an excerpt:

"I’m ten years old. My Big Ben-style alarm clock has stopped working. Maybe I wound it too tightly, maybe it’s just worn out. Whatever the reason, the alarm hasn’t gone off in days.

I know I can fix it, if only I can get a look inside. When I tell my …

The new DI Andy Horton, number nine in the series, called Undercurrent, will be published in the UK and Commonwealth on 31 January and in the USA on 1 May 2013. Like all the DI Horton novelsit is set against the backdrop of the sea in the Solent area on the South Coast of England.

In this crime novel DI Horton has a new mystery…

I'm delighted to announce that the seventh in the DI Andy Horton crime series, A Killing Coast has been nominated by my publisher Severn House for the eDUNNIT AWARD at CrimeFest 2013.

Crimefest is…

Check out my latest blog post and find out what really went on behind the scenes at the Miami Book Fair! 

The October issue of Writers' Tricks of the Trade E-Zine is now available for download. Filled with interesting articles from contributing authors, a review by Martha Cheves, writer's conference listings, handy tips and techniques and helpful links to blogs and websites plus much mo

re, it is rapidly becoming the E-Zine that writers (and readers, too) love to read and contribute to. Share it with your writer friends and writer's groups. You can find the link to the current issue and…

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/thrones-of-desire-a-foray-into-sexy-fantasy-a-la-game-of-thrones/

We have a established a new crime imprint (NOT a vanity press!) called Grey Cells Press, and our first books will be coming out in the New Year 2013. We are still seeking submissions.

We are looking for most types of crime fiction, from the classic English

whodunit through to police procedurals and hardboiled detectives: Christie

to Chandler, Marsh to Mosley, Paretsky, Dexter and Tey and puzzles by Carr and

Crispin and Queen. We want well-written, satisfying work. It…

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/normal-for-norfolk-the-literary-collaboration-of-the-century/

It only seems like five minutes ago I was writing the entry for June and here we are in July (and with little sign of the summer in the UK). So what's happening in July?



On 5 July I am to be guest crime author at the annual conference of the British Society of Criminology taking place at the University of Portsmouth, Institute of Criminal…

I'm often asked how I research police procedures and police matters for my crime novels and while the DI Horton crime series certainly doesn't conform to policing in the real world  there is an underlying reality about some of the situations and procedures.



So where do I get my research from?



From talking to real live police officers, those working on the coal face and those who have also retired and my thanks here to the officers in the CID, the Major Crime Unit and the…

After the Severn House drinks party it was time for another drinks reception this time hosted by CrimeFest and with the purpose of announcing those authors shortlisted for some of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers Shortlist. Here are some photographs from the event where I was lucky enough to meet up with some DI Horton fans and chat to them about the…

Just as in CrimeFest 2010 this year’s CrimeFest was again a glorious hot day with wall-to-wall sunshine in Bristol.  Not the best time to be closeted inside the Royal Marriott Hotel but a very pleasant one to be strolling along the regenerated dock area and catching the little ferry across the narrow strip of water, which I managed to do. It was great to be back on the water, albeit for about two minutes, and I wondered whether DI Horton might take a trip into Bristol on his yacht one day.…

I'm looking forward to being at CrimeFest this coming weekend where I will be appearing on a panel on Friday 25 May at 9am. This will be my third year of attending and if it's anything like the last two it will be enjoyable and fun.

CrimeFest is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics. First organised in June 2008, CrimeFest is now one of the most popular dates in the crime fiction calendar. The annual convention draws top…

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/50-shades-of-nothing-new/

So it's almost April (with its shoures soote) and I'm looking forward to the active part of the year. All winter I focused on writing, managing to finish Book #3 of the Simon & Elizabeth series and Book #2 of the Dead Detective series. I'm at work on Book #3, but author appearances are starting to emerge. There were two in March, and from there on, the calendar starts to look like a dartboard, with towns and times scribbled all over the place.

The interesting date this month…

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/mitzi-teddy-and-kevin-spacey-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil/