Tag Archives: writing

Why write ghost stories?

Posted on by under Ghosts and horror

13ghostMy latest book 13 Ghosts of Winter was a new departure for me. My previous books were all detective stories featuring the same character Mac Maguire. So why such a change of direction from crime novels to a book containing thirteen original tales of the supernatural?

I’ve always loved ghost stories ever since I’ve been young and I pretty much read everything that was even remotely supernatural that our local library held by the time I was eleven. There’s a bit in my detective novel The Dead Squirrel where Mac goes into a library for the first time in quite a while and the smell of the books brings back memories –

‘It immediately brought him back in time to the red-bricked Victorian palace of a library he’d almost lived in when he was young. Ghost stories had been his favourite back then. He remembered reading them aloud to his friends by a flickering candle in the gang’s hideout, in reality his father’s garden shed, and nearly scaring each other to death.’  Continue reading →

Mac Maguire and two great detective writers

Posted on by under Crime writing, Mac Maguire

I’m sometimes asked about which authors have influenced me most. It might be hard for some authors to identify such influences but I have to admit that for me it’s fairly straightforward.

I absolutely adore crime writers like Chandler, Hammett and Mankell but when it comes to those who have directly influenced what goes on the page there are really only two – Conan Doyle and Simenon. They are both very different to each other but, luckily for me, quite complementary. For while Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is all about the puzzle, Simenon’s Maigret is more about the human side of things. I figure that if you can provide a good puzzle as well as a good human story then I think  you’ve probably cracked it as a crime writer. I hasten to add that I’m far from being there yet but then it’s all about the journey, isn’t it?

So let’s look at how each might have contributed to the make-up of Mac Maguire. Continue reading →

Location, location, location

Posted on by under Crime writing

spirella_building_-_geograph-org-uk_-_988178So why Hertfordshire and especially why Letchworth Garden City as the backdrop for a series of crime books? As I said in my earlier post when talking about why I made my main character disabled, I was just following some good advice – write about what you know. As I live in Letchworth I know it quite well. There’s a bit more to it than that though.

Letchworth is the result of a unique experiment as it’s the world’s first garden city. It looks and feels different too, the building above was actually a factory! I’ve been living here for around four years now but it feels longer. I really like the place and feel like I owe it something. So what really decided me on Letchworth? Continue reading →