GUEST POST: Halcyon Sounds by RIO YOUERS

Name: RIO YOUERS Author of: HALCYON (2018) On the web: rioyouers.com On Twitter: @Rio_Youers There’s a time for peace and quiet—on those meandering countryside walks, for instance, at one with your thoughts as the sunlight creeps through the branches and the scent of pine sap fills the air. And first thing in the morning, when […]

INFLUENCES: Murder Down a Dark Alleyway by TOM CALLAGHAN

Name: TOM CALLAGHAN Author of: A KILLING WINTER (2015) A SPRING BETRAYAL (2016) A SUMMER REVENGE (2017) A WINTER HUNTING (2018) On the web: tomcallaghanwriter.com On Twitter: @tomcwriter I’ve always been a voracious reader, and an indiscriminate one. My bookshelves are like a party where no-one knows anyone else and wonders if […]

INFLUENCES: On Inspiration by TYRELL JOHNSON

TYRELL JOHNSON Author of: THE WOLVES OF WINTER (2018) On Twitter: @tjohnso14 Inspiration is a funny thing when it comes to writing. At least it is for me. Some authors have really specific moments of inspiration; others have one important theme they want to explore; some start with a concept; some are inspired by people […]

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 […]