James Twining's Blog (19)

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Bond moments

When I was fifteen or so, on a family holiday in Majorca, I befriended a group of local Spanish kids. They were older than me and led by Juan, an eighteen year old whose father was one of the richest men on the island. Juan drove Number Five, a Ferrari red catamaran that his father had co-piloted to third place in the world speedboat championship a few years before. It was a monster.



I mention this because my research trip to Monte Carlo last week (see… Continue

Added by James Twining on July 25, 2008 at 9:44am — 1 Comment

Stranger Than Fiction

Is history repeating itself?



A few weeks before the US publication of The Double Eagle in 2005, the US Government made a sensational announcement. Ten 1933 Double Eagles, the same incredibly rare $20 coins that feature at the heart of my novel, had been seized from the family of one of the dealers implicated in the original 1940s enquiry. Given the plot of my novel (the recovery of five Double Eagle coins stolen from Fort Knox), it was an incredible coincidence that did not go… Continue

Added by James Twining on October 5, 2007 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Squeaky bum time

I'm up to 11 fans on my Facebook fansite now. Eleven. Onze. Elf. Once. Undici. Whichever way you say it, it doesn't get any bigger. Come on… Continue

Added by James Twining on October 1, 2007 at 7:43am — No Comments

Fan Club

Now I don't

normally like to blow my own trumpet (although I knew someone at school

who was double jointed and used to smugly claim that he could) but in

this case I couldn't resist.



Yes, it's official, I have a fan club. And no it wasn't set up by my mum. It's on the stupidly popular… Continue

Added by James Twining on September 17, 2007 at 8:00am — No Comments

Man Sized

God I feel virile! Not in a rip her knickers off and ride her bareback sort

of way (at least no more than usual). I'm talking about a much more

basic, instinctive, hunter-gatherer sort of virility. The sort that

drinks beer, farts a lot, finds the word "bottom" funny, watches

endless repeats of Buffy (or is that just me?) and can, whatever the

time, city or state of inebriation, navigate unerringly to the… Continue

Added by James Twining on September 1, 2007 at 8:00am — No Comments

4th book syndrome

Fellow thriller writer (doing annoyingly well) Tom Cain has posted about the trauma of writing 'The Second Novel', especially when burdened by weight of expectation following the success of the first. He drew the comparison with rock groups, who pack their first album full of the…
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Added by James Twining on August 3, 2007 at 10:06pm — No Comments

Harrogate - A to Z

Friday 19th July - 7:50am

D Day. Or rather DdM day. Only a few hours and a disgusting British Rail cooked breakfast now stand between me and my du Maurier panel and professional humiliation.



Actually,…
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Added by James Twining on July 26, 2007 at 4:57am — No Comments

Dead Line

Deadline, [ded-lahyn], noun - origin 1855-1860

1. The time… Continue

Added by James Twining on July 15, 2007 at 4:30am — No Comments

If the shoe fits ...

Writing is certainly not for the faint of heart or the weak of spirit. You don't believe me? Just click through to Amazon and read some of the customer reviews posted against your favourite books and writers, including yours truly. It can make for some pretty brutal reading.







Never believe a writer who tells you they don't read reviews. It's a lie. They all do, me included. After all, it would be incredibly arrogant not to care what your readership had to say.… Continue

Added by James Twining on July 3, 2007 at 12:00am — No Comments

Top Shelf Shuffle

I'm not sure whether it's

just me, but since I've been writing I seem to have developed this

masochistic streak. It manifests itself most acutely in my inability

to walk past a bookshop without popping in to see if they have my books

in stock.



It's a thankless task. If they don't have them, it depresses me. If they do (which to be fair to Harper Collins is

increasingly the case) they are more often than not at the… Continue

Added by James Twining on June 13, 2007 at 9:22am — 1 Comment

Summer Dreams

Just back from a mini-break in (of all places) Marbella. I say mini-break because, according to the wife, it doesn't become a holiday until you are away for more than 5 nights - I wish I'd understood this subtlety when I booked it, as apparently this means we still need to go away again on a "proper" family vacation! More money...



Anyway, technically speaking we weren't in Marbella, but down the road in Puerto Banus… Continue

Added by James Twining on June 1, 2007 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Growing Pains

I have to admit, I haven't quite cracked this whole blogging lark. It's not that I don't have lots of things to say - who doesn't like the sounds of their own voice! - it's just that I never seem to find the time. The only consolation is I'm not the only one who struggles with this. Apparently Lindsay… Continue

Added by James Twining on May 17, 2007 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Commercial Break?

Can anyone explain the newspaper book-pages to me? I just can't figure them out. While page after page is devoted to non-fiction and supposedly "literary" novels, the best that more "commercial" works can hope for is a dismissive mention on a roundup page or, more often than not, being ignored altogether. This despite the fact that commercial fiction in general (and crime and thrillers in particular), accounts for the vast… Continue

Added by James Twining on April 24, 2007 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Mild and Bitter

Safely back from Austria (definition of a good break = only 2 nappies changed in four days!) and straight into the bear pit that is the London Book Fair. Luckily I checked my invite before setting out because I was all set on grabbing my passport and making the trek over to Docklands where it was last time round.



This year the festivities were in the far more civilised… Continue

Added by James Twining on April 23, 2007 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Batteries not Included

There's no instruction manual on how to be a writer. No simple "how to" guide that you can turn to for help and guidance. Or if there is, no-one gave it to me.



I'm not talking about the writing part of being writer - the "doing", if you like. That's the easy part! Well maybe not easy, but at least once you've armed yourself with an idea, a computer and (most… Continue

Added by James Twining on April 11, 2007 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Slings and Arrows

Writing can be a tough business.



No, don't worry, I'm not looking for (or expecting) any sympathy, especially not from you lot! But it does seem to be one of those professions where, perhaps a bit like acting or even running your own business, you have to endure…

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Added by James Twining on April 2, 2007 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Book 3 - Revealed!

Finally, a bit of news about the third Tom Kirk Novel to share with you.



You'll be pleased to know it has a title! Months of heated negotations with Bruce, my editor, (that's not his real name but it seems more appropriate for a thriller editor than his actual one!) have led us to The Gilded Seal. My original suggestion was The Napoleon Seal, but Harper Collins were worried that this would make it seem too historical?? Not sure I… Continue

Added by James Twining on March 27, 2007 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Plastic Fantastic

I remember reading an interview with JK Rowling a few years ago where she was talking about the merchandising deal she had struck with Warner Bros. Basically, she had insisted of final approval of any Harry Potter products released alongside the movies. To her growing unease, as the release date of the first film loomed, a succession of increasingly tacky items had been sent for her blessing. Eventually, and some…

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Added by James Twining on March 3, 2007 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Shark Finn Soup

Doesn't junk mail make you feel inadequate? Constant offers to grow your penis "so she'll be begging for more" and loud emails mocking you for not having jumped on yesterday's soaring boiler-room stock, leave you with a crushing sense of being either under-equipped or under-funded. Or both.



But not all unsolicited mail is unwelcome. Take this, that I received a few weeks ago:…



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Added by James Twining on February 9, 2007 at 8:00pm — No Comments

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