Review: Living With Shakespeare: St Helen’s Parish, London 1593-1598
History, as I learned at school, even at its very best and most exciting can, if a teacher or writer tries hard enough, become dull and tedious in the extreme. Which is why I picked sciences for A level and dropped history. I loved history as a subject, and had studied the medieval period, Victorian … Continue reading
Review: EMPIRES OF CRIME by Tim Newark, published by Pen And Sword History
ISBN: 1526713047 I have to admit, I picked this up with a degree of trepidation. There are so many books published which blame the British Empire for everything from famine, slavery, warfare and xenophobia, that I am forced to select my reading with care, just to avoid damage to my blood pressure. I need not have … Continue reading
Writing and Editing
And so, having disposed of the copy edit last week, I am now reliably informed (Natasha is never wrong) that Severn House will post the proofs of the next Jack Blackjack story to me today, so I’ll have to work through them from tomorrow or Friday. It’s an odd job, being a writer. You need … Continue reading
Hoarding Can Be Good
Okay, I admit it, I am pretty bad for hoarding. Look at my bookshelves. I am not going to read every one of these again. In fact, I suspect only perhaps 15% of them will be read. I have books I adore (and know pretty much off by heart), and which I cannot get rid … Continue reading
Book reviews
I made it a firm policy many years ago that I would not give a bad review to someone else’s work. It’s not because I am a particularly kind person. I have most definitely read several books that truly did not deserve those hours of my life. Those are hours I could have spent with … Continue reading
Why Are Books Good?
We are blessed with another splendid day. It’s confusing, though, to be sitting indoors, huddled in warm clothes, and then, on wandering outdoors, to find that it’s too hot for anything other than shirtsleeves. Today started very well, thanks to a delightful teacher called Mark, who wrote to thank me for my notes on writing. … Continue reading
Getting to the End…
One of those days when concentrating is difficult: I have to work around the family, getting a new tent sealed ready for a three day hike, walking the dogs, writing up the short list and winner of a prize, deal with emails and phone calls … and it’s not easy. The simple fact is, as … Continue reading
Review: THE RESTLESS DEAD by Simon Beckett
THE RESTLESS DEAD by Simon Beckett, published by Bantam Press ISBN: Hardback 9780593063477 RRP £12.99; ebook 9781409043034 at £7.99 on Amazon Simon Beckett is now a “European phenomenon, selling over 6 million copies in Germany alone”, according to the publisher’s blurb on the press release. Yes, I know, I don’t take much notice of such comments either. … Continue reading
Christmas Giveaway!
This year has been busy, very busy. I’ve published Rebellion’s Message, and Blood of the Innocents, while also writing the first in a new Crusaders series, a second in the Blackjack, Bloody Mary series, and two other books that will hopefully hit a shelf near you in the coming year. Oh, and planning a new historical, a … Continue reading
In Praise of Crime
I’m in the middle of writing another book just now, the follow up to Rebellion’s Message, in which the often confused Jack Blackjack continues to try to escape a fresh series of tribulations in the early part of Bloody Mary’s reign. It got me thinking about what it is that really appeals to me about … Continue reading
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