January was a real good month for reading. Let’s get to it.

The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett. Said by many to be Hammett’s greatest, and I see why. Loyalty, betrayal, politics, and sex interwoven in a story…

One of the early blogs I wrote (on another blog site) discussed a certain college (that shall remain nameless) who refused my offer of an author appearance. One of the reasons mentioned in the person's email was the fact that my first two books were eBooks and the quote was: “Ebooks don't count”. This was a statement saying that eBooks weren't quality material. I suppose as opposed to the…

In theory, writing dialogue should be one of the easiest things in the world.  It should be like breathing, blinking, and breaking wind – real-world talents that every one of us shares (although some of us are far better at the latter than others).  After all, we mostly all talk a great deal, and we mostly all hear others talking (sometimes far more than we might want to), in our day to day lives, at work, and on TV, so we can’t really claim that it’s something of a major challenge to simply…

Lisa blogs about literary matters and reviews books. Her interview with me appeared today.

http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/2014/02/interview-with-author-stephen-seitz.html

I had great time entertaining the ladies of the Young at Heart Club (part of Brandon Care) on Wednesday 5 February. They certainly lived up to their name. They were a very lively bunch.

Against the backdrop of fierce winds, torrential rain and thunder I talked about murder mystery and mayhem. Very appropriate

I spoke of how I get the ideas for my…

Today, I welcome one of my favorite thriller writers both on and off the page – John Dolan.

John Dolan is fun. He’s dry, he’s politically incorrect – two traits that do it for me the way a pair of big breasts and a small vocabulary do it for some guys. In my review of his wonderful…

February sees the publication in paperback of Death Lies Beneath,the eighth in the series of British Police Procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged detective, DI Andy Horton. It has also be released as an unabridged audio…

I am looking forward to seeing Monuments Men, written by Robert Edsel & directed by George Clooney. And I am delighted to hear about a new book from Harry Hunsicker, a thriller called The Contractors.

I grew up in a small town and think it was the best option for schooling and a friendly, safe community.

I still live in a small town but it’s…

Okay, so the moment has arrived – it’s finally time to begin your incredible new project.  The idea for this masterwork, previously a tiny, dry seed sleeping in your mind, has suddenly begun to sprout.  Urgent stems have thrust their way into the sunlight and reached for the sky, buds have formed, leaves have unfurled, roots and tendrils have surged in all directions at once, and the whole thing is growing at a geometric rate.  New characters are introducing themselves to you on a regular…

I have received so many questions, comments and emails about fingerprint evidence and crime scene investigations, so I decided to keep with the theme from one of my previous posts about fingerprints.  There is so much more the fingerprint evidence from discovery to…

This review of "Winteland" by Alan Glynn may be of interest.

http://trackofthecat.blogspot.ie/2011/01/saturdays-best-book-diary-alan-glynns.html

True noir is hard to find. By “true noir,” I mean the classic story of a person who is not necessarily bad, but can be nudged in that direction, either through opportunity, or forced by events. This person makes decisions that go sour, though the options at the time ranged from bad to worse; the die was cast with the first unfortunate choice. The stories are engrossing because readers can’t help but wonder what they would do in the same situation, and are relieved…

There are a lot of people who view all sub-plots with the gravest suspicion, regarding them at best as a pointless distraction from the main business at hand, and, at worst, as a dangerously amateurish self-indulgence.  Kill your darlings, they screech like dogma-drilled harpies, kill, kill, kill them all!  Needless to say, I disagree.

In a general sense, I’m all in favour of sub-plots.  In fact, I delight in them.  They offer so many exciting possibilities to writers of…

One of the many smaller pleasures of writing fiction is the fun to be derived from choosing the names of your characters.  There’s a lot of joy in nailing down the perfect name for your maverick cop/cerebral private detective/vampire overlord/super-soldier from Planet Zap, and just as much amusement in bestowing the names of people you dislike upon the seedy/degenerate/evil characters currently paddling around in the shallow end of your WIP’s gene pool.  But the truth is that the more you…

Kindle readers! Get "Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever" while it's still 99 cents! Go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Cant-Forever-Herron-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00DEKR21I

Starting tomorrow, Jan. 23, Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever is being discounted on Kindle. From that day until the next, it'll be 99 cents, a 76 percent discount. Then, from the 24th to the 26th, the book will be $1.99, and from the 26th until 11 a.m. the 27th, 26 percent off at $2.99. Get it while it's hot!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DEKR21I

Creating a likeable, interesting and complex main character, one the reader can have empathy with, one they want to trust, feel his/her pain and disappointments, root for throughout the story is the key to creating a successful and riveting crime novel.

Pauline Rowson author of the popular DI Andy Horton crime series explains how…

Apart from ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ (although in some cases, ‘Why do you get these ideas?’ might be the more appropriate inquiry), one of the more frequently questions writers get asked about their work involves the creation of character.  Both readers and writers alike are always interested to know which came first, the story or the character.  The answer is usually character.  Or story.  Or both.  Or neither...

The truth is there is no stock answer, it’s different…