When I was a teenager, I steadfastly refused to believe that so-called ‘classical literature’ could be better than the assortment I chose from the local… Read More »Wuthering Heights – the novel that has influenced me the most
There’s a thin band of cream silhouetting the cranes that hover over the half-built office blocks in the city centre. I head home, below an… Read More »My Mother’s Secret – Location
Today I ran a lesson about villains for homeschool with my nine-year-old daughter. She loved it and created a supreme baddie: Galactica, Queen of the… Read More »How to create the perfect villain!
In May 2017 we bought a house in Somerset. It was originally built in the 1950s and for almost two years we’ve been renovating it.… Read More »Blueprint for a house…and a story
What would you tell yourself if you could? The Royal Literary Fund recently gave me the opportunity to write and record a letter to my… Read More »Letter to my younger self
My writing talisman is a beautiful painting by artist, Elaine Jones. It’s of Cornwall – have a look to see why I love it so… Read More »My writing talisman
The Royal Literary Fund has recorded a mini -podcast with me on how I write – with a black coffee, and some dark chocolate and… Read More »How I write
In a few days time I’m heading to Ted Hughes’ old house, Lumb Bank, in Hebden Bridge, to teach an Arvon Foundation course on how… Read More »How to write a thriller
I’ve just returned to working for charity, First Story, this month. First Story’s aim is to change young people’s lives through writing, particularly those… Read More »Becoming a coach
I’ve written as a Jesuit priest in Outer Mongolia, a nine-year-old in inner city Bristol, a child abductor, an angry teenager, a man in his… Read More »Diversity in Fiction
I’m delighted to welcome Tasha Locke to my blog this week. Tasha graduated from Bristol University this year with a degree in English Literature. I… Read More »My Mother’s Secret: Stories within the Book
As My Mother’s Secret has been wending its way into the world, I’ve been working on another psychological thriller. It’s called One Year Later… One… Read More »One Year Later
It’s hard to believe, for me at least, but after doing little else but think about the characters in My Mother’s Secret for a year and… Read More »My Mother’s Secret – Launch party!
Book blogger and health journalist, Victoria Goldman, asked me to tell her what my essential writing toolkit is for her blog, Off-the-Shelf Books. Here goes: Office… Read More »My Writing Toolkit
This is a blog post I wrote on the importance of setting for The Asian Writer, and I thought would be most appropriate as I’ve… Read More »In a thriller, nowhere is safe…
My seven-year-old daughter is teaching me how to plot. She’s drawn a story mountain for me, which shows the start, build up, climax, solution and… Read More »How to tell a good plot
I’m giving a talk on plot at Novel Nights on Wednesday 23 Many. This is a wonderful monthly event, organised by writer, Grace Palmer, in… Read More »The octopus and the pirates
There are 25 different kinds of cake name-checked in My Mother’s Secret, from Daim cake bought over the counter in Ikea, to scones with cream… Read More »My Mother’s Secret & Cake!
I love reading and writing – obviously! And I then love meeting up with people to chat about what I’ve read, maybe over a… Read More »My Mother’s Secret – Book Club Questions
My Mother’s Secret is out now! It’s available to buy in bookshops or from Amazon. You can read some extracts from it if you’d like… Read More »My Mother’s Secret is out now!