EXTRACT: THE CABINET OF LINGUISTIC CURIOSITIES by Paul Anthony Jones

THE CABINET OF LINGUISTIC CURIOSITIES Paul Anthony Jones (www.paulanthonyjones.com) Elliott & Thompson (www.eandtbooks.com) £14.99 auripotent (n.) rich and powerful The Latin word for gold was aurum, which is not only responsible for the chemical symbol for gold, Au, but is today found at the root of a host of suitably golden words. Aurigraphy, for instance, […]

INFLUENCES: What Made Me Write WHERE IN THE DARK by KAREN MILLIE-JAMES

KAREN MILLIE-JAMES Author of: THE SHADOWS BEHIND HER SMILE (2016) WHERE IN THE DARK (2017) On the web: www.karenmilliejames.com On Twitter: @KMillieJames My new novel Where In The Dark tackles some difficult subjects, from the search for justice of Holocaust survivors to the dark secrets of gold stolen by the Nazis and hidden in banks throughout the […]

GUEST POST: Who is Elyse Martingale? by MATTHEW BLAKSTAD

Name: MATTHEW BLAKSTAD Author of: SOCKPUPPET (2016) LUCKY GHOST (2017) On the web: www.matthewblakstad.com On Twitter: @mattblak Ah, yes: Professor Elyse Martingale. Doyenne of Britain’s post-war computing revolution. Political radical and scourge of the state. Inspiration to a new generation of 21st century hacktivists. Surely you know all about Elyse Martingale? What’s that? You’ve never heard of […]

Extract: IF WE WERE VILLAINS by M.L. Rio

IF WE WERE VILLAINS M.L. Rio (mlrio.com) Titan Books (titanbooks.com) £7.99 I sit with my wrists cuffed to the table and I think, But that I am forbid / To tell the secrets of my prison-house, / I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul. The guard stands by […]

INFLUENCES: Japanese Influences by MARK EDWARDS

MARK EDWARDS Author of: THE LUCKY ONES (2017) THE DEVIL’S WORK (2016) FOLLOW YOU HOME (2015) On the web: http://www.markedwardsauthor.com On Twitter: @mredwards I lived in Japan for a year, back in the early noughties, teaching ‘English conversation’. This involved sitting in a cubicle with three or four people – salarymen and schoolgirls, […]

Extract: TIME TO WIN by Harry Brett

TIME TO WIN Harry Brett (www.henrysutton.co.uk/harry-brett) Corsair (www.littlebrown.co.uk) £16.99 There was a time when the sound of rain was comforting, calming. Now it pissed her off. It was autumn already, she remembered. September 1. It was not her favourite month. She let the patter swirl around her head for another few minutes, realising she was […]

INFLUENCES: Why I Write Crime Fiction by CANDICE FOX

Name: CANDICE FOX Author of: CRIMSON LAKE (2016) On the web: candicefoxauthor.com On Twitter: candicefoxbooks There was a lot of crime in my childhood, so my interest in crime began there, even if I wasn’t writing it as a young’un. My mother fostered 150+ kids who generally came from abusive, neglectful and criminal backgrounds. My […]

GUEST POST: Osbert and Me by GAVIN SCOTT

Name: GAVIN SCOTT Author of: THE AGE OF TREACHERY (2016) THE AGE OF OLYMPUS (2017) On the web: gavinscott.co On Twitter: @gavinscott942 Osbert and Me Gavin Scott The first character to speak in The Age of Olympus is Osbert Lancaster, who was, in real life the press attaché to the British Embassy in Athens […]

GUEST POST: World Building in the RELICS Universe by Tim Lebbon

Name: TIM LEBBON Author of: COLDBROOK (2012) THE HUNT (2015) RELICS (2017) On the web: http://www.timlebbon.net On Twitter: @timlebbon I love world building. A few years ago I wrote a series of fantasy novels for Bantam in the USA, and also a couple for Orbit in the UK. Four of these––the Noreela novels––all […]

GUEST POST–PARALLEL LINES: On Heroes by ADAM SHAW

Name: STEVEN SAVILE Author of: PARALLEL LINES (2017) On the web: http://www.stevensavile.com On Twitter: @StevenSavile Steven Savile’s latest novel, PARALLEL LINES, is published in the UK on 14th March by Titan Books. To celebrate the launch, Reader Dad is very pleased to welcome the book’s protagonist, Adam Shaw, to talk about heroes. I find heroes […]