The Long Way Home I’m nervous today. But I’ve been nervous before: when I had to reveal something I hoped I’d never have to. When I asked my wife to marry me. Those occasions, with imagination, inspired the start of my novel. What if you’re planning to propose, but have to reveal your true past... Continue Reading →
Noir from the Bar Press Release
International crime writers join forces to support NHS with new Crime Anthology Features shorts from best-sellers authors including Neil Broadfoot, Roz Watkins, Sharon Bolton and Zoe Sharp Newcastle-Upon-Tyne based literary group, Noir at the Bar, has brought together some of the best crime writers from across the globe, to publish a collection of short, fictional crime... Continue Reading →
Virtual Noir at the Bar – Creating a Virtual Event
This is an article I wrote for Linked In...so it's a bit business-speak, but may be of interest to those wondering about Virtual Noir at the Bar... Background In November of last year, I moved back up home to the North East of England after 30 years away. In February I attended my first Noir at... Continue Reading →
Virtual Noir at the Bar
Vic Watson has been running Noir at the Bar in Newcastle for four years. I went to my first session a couple of months ago, before things got...weird. It's a great evening - eight to ten authors, ranging from best sellers to unpublished, read from their work to an enthusiastic (increasingly so as the bar... Continue Reading →
Binge Worthy TV… Whatever You Subscribe To
There are a lot of lists around at the moment covering ‘binge worthy’ shows to watch during this ‘interesting’ time we find ourselves in. Here are a few that you should be able to see, depending what subscription service you may or may not have. As far as possible this list is a ‘getaway from... Continue Reading →
Unfilmable stories
The following is an abridged section of an essay from my collection of screenplays and 'bonus material' Off-Script. It's a weird little collection: four short scripts, ranging in technical difficulty to film, a bunch of notes, and a few glossaries. It was never going to be a best-seller. I adapted a couple of previously published short... Continue Reading →
Air of December: A Movie
It was 30 years ago this year that I made 'Air of December' - my Film Studies Final Project. A time of bulky video cameras, pre-affordable CGI and tape-to-tape editing processes. A dystopian sci-fi/ thriller it was described variously as 'a narrative study of the audience's view of the male anti-hero and attitudes towards violence'... Continue Reading →
The Offer so Good… You’d Think It Was a Cheesy Advert…(Marketing 101)
What's the big deal? For 3 days only, YOU can make a killing - my crime/ twist in the tale collection is available in the UK and US on Amazon for only 99 of your local currency. Yep, that's right - more than 50% of the standard Kindle cost. That works out at a shade... Continue Reading →
Writing for a Younger Audience…a Retrospective
I released a collection of horror stories for children back in October last year entitled Cellar Stories (a riff on my first story collection of horror and dark tales for adults Basement Tales which, two years after publication, is still doing pretty well). I've written about why I did it in detail elsewhere on this... Continue Reading →
Fiendish Christmas Quiz Answers
#1. The gift: it's five pounds of veal! Given to a young Frank Cross by his father in Scrooged. Much better than the choo-choo train he wanted... #2 The gift; the bear that came to the party...or sat in the Limo. John McClane's festive offering from Die Hard #3 The gift: what the f***k is... Continue Reading →