The Week in View!

There are some times when, as a writer, all you can do is sit down and crack on with books. There are other times when all you want is a little time to be able to do just that! This week is one of those weeks when what I really need is more time to … Continue reading

Holidays!

It is very hard to write when it is school holidays. Children on holiday have an ability to make noise and disrupt thought processes much more than children at other times of the year. It is particularly unpleasant to be attempting to live to the 5:2 diet when sadistic teenaged girls insist on wafting lemon … Continue reading

New Moves!

I’ve been having a lot of fun recently and it’s getting better. Some of you will have occasionally sprinted over to writerlywitterings on YouTube and seen some of my videos on my books and on writing. Not yet? Go and check it out. The videos seem to have interested a lot of people, and because of … Continue reading

What a month June was!

I have been suffering recently from a series of disasters. Early this year I had the horror of a computer failure. Before anyone says (again) that I ought to back up the damn thing, I do. I routinely back up to a local second disk, and to remote disks, and to the cloud. However, once in … Continue reading

The Last Week of Work

Sorry to have been quiet last week, but I was working on the latest book. I still am, which is why this is likely to be a short blog too. However, it occurred to me that I ought to share the results of my last week’s work. I am in the period which I normally … Continue reading

Getting the Ideas Right

This is one of those little posts where I discuss the way that I get things done. Not that my methods will work with everyone. They certainly won’t! However, if you are trying to write up a report for the boss, or get ideas down for an important essay, or even a dissertation, and you just … Continue reading

Trials and Irritations!

This is one of those blogs where I have a brief rant. And why not? I’m sitting here before a computer that is gleaming and lovely, when outside the birds are singing, the sun is shining and  … yes, I’m sitting here indoors, in a Dartmoor granite house that is freezing. It’s so cold I’m wearing … Continue reading

Distractions All the Way

One of the hardest aspects of writing is the fact that there are so many damnably attractive alternatives. You sit at the desk and try to focus on the day ahead. That involves thinking about the coming scenes, planning, plotting, getting the mind into the right frame for envisioning bloody murder or a battle scene, … Continue reading

Technology

Welcome to another Jecks wittering. There are times when I sit at my desk and type and think about all kinds of happy things. There are times when I happily wallow in blood and guts in my mind – which is why I, like most crime writers, am such a well-balanced, pleasant, amiable fellow. I … Continue reading

Big Data!

I was reading in a magazine an article by the excellent Simon Brett earlier today. It was an obituary for Phyllis James and mentioned that some time ago, while talking about writing, they discussed the worst questions authors are asked. My own favourite worst is, “Where do your books sell?” It’s a natural question. It’s … Continue reading