I always enjoy it when I find a new to me author and when that author is in my own genre, that makes me even happier. I recently discovered Anna Penrose’s murder mystery, The Body in the Wall which I enjoyed very much indeed.
Me
Welcome to my blog, Anna, and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions. Let’s open with the one I always start with – and the one all writers are said to dread – where do you get your ideas from?
Anna
Ideas are everywhere. I’m always daydreaming and roleplaying scenarios and some of those mind scribbles make it into whole stories. For The Body in the Wall I wanted to write a murder mystery but I wanted it to be engage the reader rather than terrify them.
I am delighted to welcome author Val Penny back to my blog this week. I first met Val when I joined the community of Crooked Cat authors (now Darkstroke) back in 2018. (And I first interviewed her for my blog here.)
Crooked Cat/Darkstroke was (and still is) a great community of supportive and knowledgeable authors and I learnt so much from all of them, but Val was particularly helpful. She has a wealth of knowledge, experience and sheer common sense and has been an inspiration and support throughout my time with Darkstroke. (She also writes really good crime stories!)
I was very sad when I learned she was changing publishers and asked if she would like to come on to my blog and talk about it. It is, after all, a very big step for an author to take.
So, welcome back Val.
Val
Thank you so much for inviting me along today, Paula. It is good to be able to sit and chat with you today
I am delighted to welcome David Gatward to my blog this week. I recently featured him in my Idea Store column in Writers’ Forum and I was anxious to find out more about this author whose output has left me full of admiration, both for its quantity and quality.
I was first attracted to David’s books when I read that his current series of crime novels featured Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, a part of the world I love as we had many happy family holidays there when my children were little.
In the past two years David has published TEN books in his excellent DCI Harry Grimm series and it opens with Harry Grimm arriving – very reluctantly – from Somerset to take up his new post in the area.
Me.
Welcome to my blog, David and thank you for agreeing to be featured. Thank you, too, for reminding me how very much I love the Yorkshire Dales and how it is high time I went back there.
I’m intrigued to know how you managed to produce such a great series in such a short time.
It’s always a delight to hear from readers and recently a lovely lady called Gilly Metcalfe wrote to me to say how much she enjoyed my Idea Store column in Writers’ Forum, particularly the one where I was talking about how my family have inspired so many of my short stories.
“I have so many handed down family stories ” she told me. “My mother was one of ten children and like you, loved putting on plays. My grandfather, a publican, was a founder member of Chelsea football Club and had the Rising Sun ( now The Butcher’s Hook) they were just opposite the playing field at Stamford Bridge and my aunts and uncles had many childish memories of hilarious events connected with those days.
I am thrilled to welcome contemporary romance author Nina Kaye to my blog this week. I recently read Nina’s novel, Take a Moment and loved it. But before we get into the interview I’m going to copy my Amazon review of her book so that you can see what I’m talking about.
This is a stunning book and I loved every single page. It made me laugh, it made me cry – and it made me think.
It’s the story of Alex who has the perfect life until she is suddenly struck down with MS and it tracks her brave attempt to regain some independence and build a new – and very different – life for herself.
It’s a very honest, unsentimental account of learning to live with a debilitating and life changing illness and is told with humour and compassion. I loved everything about this book – including the descriptions of Birmingham. It sounds a fabulous place and has made me want to go there.
Me
Welcome to my blog, Nina and thank you so much for a really great read. How would you describe your genre? And do you write series or stand alone?
Nina
My books are probably best described as contemporary romance. Take A Moment, is marketed as a heartwarming romance, which I think suits it perfectly. I write standalone novels, however I do have a two-parter at the back of my writing closet that I hope will see the light of day at some point.
Me
Tell us what inspires you most. Is the characters? Settings? (I loved the Birmingham setting in Take a Moment, by the way.) Or are you inspired by books you’ve read?
Nina
My inspiration often comes from my personal experiences and what’s going on around me. I like to write about things I’ve had some experience of to give them extra credibility, but I also apply a good bit of imagination. For example, Take A Moment, is inspired by my own experience of long-term illness, my love of karaoke and music, and a city that I’ve gotten to know and become very fond of (Birmingham).
For characters, I tend to take traits from people I know or encounter and characters I see on screen. I never base them entirely on family, friends or acquaintances as they might then recognise themselves in my work – and I’m not sure that would go down so well. I also don’t tend to take my inspiration from other books in case I create something too similar.
Me
You certainly succeeded. I’m not sure I’d join you in the karaoke but you’ve made me want to visit Birmingham! So, how did you writing journey start?
Nina
I’ve spent most of my life as a ‘frustrated creative’ – someone who wanted to follow a more creative path, but who fell into a ‘safe’ career. I dreamt of being an author from a young age, when I was devouring the likes of The Babysitter’s Club and Point Horror. At 17 years old, I even flirted with writing outside the classroom when supposedly studying for my exams.
Fast forward nearly 20 years and it was my life-changing illness that got me on the path to becoming a serious writer. In 2014 my body essentially ‘broke’, and I spent months rehabilitating from a raft of confusing and debilitating neurological symptoms. During this time, I turned to writing to support my cognitive and physical rehabilitation, and the silver lining to all of this is that it led to me achieving my dream of being a published author.
Me.
Take a Moment is your second published novel. Tell us a little about your first.
Nina
My debut novel, The Gin Lover’s Guide to Dating, was actually the second book I wrote. It’s about Liv, whose high-flying career goes off the rails and she finds herself working at a glitzy new gin bar to pay the bills. She’s determined not to let romance distract her while she tries to get back on track, but with a hot colleague and a mysterious online follower in the mix, her dating life gets quite shaken up. It’s actually a story with some poignancy and themes of hardship, as well as finding love and a new beginning – and there’s a good dollop of humour along the way.
Me.
It’s on my To Be Read pile and I’m looking forward to reading it. But back to Take A Moment for a bit. What was the inspiration behind it?
Nina.
The main inspiration for Take A Moment is my own experience of living with a life changing illness. When I became ill, my body failed me in incomprehensible ways: I experienced uncontrollable shaking and tremors, difficulty walking, loss of balance, faltering speech. My vision and hearing were distorted; I lost my ability to concentrate, couldn’t find words, could barely eat and I would fall flat on my face several times a day. That was only part of the picture.
I was eventually diagnosed with a condition called Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). Simply put, my nervous system isn’t working properly and there’s a problem with the messaging between my brain and my body. It isn’t a degenerative condition, but it can be as physically debilitating and life limiting as MS and other neurological diseases, and it’s a condition for which there is no known cure.
I’ve managed to reclaim my previous quality of life to a certain extent, but I’ve been left with chronic symptoms. These include pain, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, and a nervous system that’s stuck in high alert. And I still occasionally have acute flare ups of the symptoms I mentioned earlier.
When I started writing Take A Moment, I wanted to raise awareness of neurological/chronic illness as well as tell a good story. It was my way of giving a glimpse into the experiences of people with debilitating chronic conditions – because no one can ever really know what that feels like until it happens to them. I chose to write about a character with MS so that it wasn’t too close and because many of the symptoms I experience overlap. It was important to me to get across what it feels like to have your life suddenly shattered, while at the same time keeping the story light and humorous.
My main character Alex’s experiences are drawn from my own: losing my independence and feeling suddenly vulnerable, concern about being unreliable, being treated differently, and facing professional barriers. Too often the focus is on what people can’t do rather than what they can – and I’ve gained some incredible strengths and insights through having lived this experience. I wanted to show this through my story: that being differently abled is not the end, it can almost be a new beginning, provided the right support is in place.
On the positive side, some people can surprise you. In the organisation where I work now, I have hugely supportive managers who let me manage my health situation my way, while also allowing me to be the ambitious person that I am. Characters like Emmanual and Matt in my story are a reflection of the wonderful people in my life who have both supported me and cheered me on.
Me.
You certainly succeeded in your aim, Nina. I loved the way Alex’s strong character shone through. She was never the stereotype ‘brave girl fighting against the odds’ , although she was brave and she certainly did a lot of fighting. But you didn’t shy away from depicting her darker, weaker moments and this was what made her character so believable and compelling.
It was, as I said earlier, not only a really good read with a strong storyline and well written characters, but it was also very thought provoking. I am so looking forward to reading more of your work, so what is next?
Nina.
My next standalone novel, One Night in Edinburgh, will be published 23rd June and I’m really excited to share it. It’s about a woman who suddenly finds herself single on Hogmanay (that the Scottish term for New Year’s Eve in case anyone’s not familiar). It’s another heartwarming romance, this time set in and around Edinburgh’s waterfront – a bit lighter and more humorous than Take A Moment, but it still gives a nod to the harder realities of life.
Me.
Definitely something to look forward to then! Thank you so much for answering my questions with such patience and honesty.
Final question, three things we might not know about you.
Nina.
My favourite karaoke song is Don’t Cry for Me Argentina – the faster Miami mix by Madonna, not the version from the musical.
I have 18 different types of gin in my drinks cabinet (that I go through very slowly – just to clarify)
At my day job, I chair a network for colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
Author Twitter / Facebook / Instagram handles: all @NinaKayeAuthor
Buy Links:
Nina
I wasn’t sure what you’d look for in terms of buy links and what the reach of your blog is so just went for Amazon UK/AU/US/CA to cover the English-speaking countries.
Nina Kaye is a contemporary romance author who writes warm, witty and uplifting reads with a deeper edge. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband and much adored side-kick, James. In addition to writing, Nina enjoys swimming, gin and karaoke (preferably all enjoyed together in a sunny, seaside destination). Nina has previously published The Gin Lover’s Guide to Dating and has also been a contender for the RNA Joan Hessayson Award.
First, I have to start with an apology. To you, my readers who are no doubt waiting anxiously for my latest blog post. Or maybe not. (;-)
But most of all, I owe an apology to this week’s featured guest. I interviewed Morwenna Blackwood in my Idea Store column in Writers’ Forum a couple of months ago when Morwenna told me about the inspiration behind her series of novels and I wrote at the time that a fuller interview with Morwenna would appear on this my blog.
But then, like so many households, we had an unwelcome visitor by the name of Covid 19 turn up uninvited on our doorstep. And like many an unwelcome guest, they were extremely disruptive, made a thorough nuisance of themselves and definitely outstayed their welcome, leaving us, when they eventually did go, with our house and our lives in chaos and our heads in a state of total brain fog.
Which is another way of saying that I’m sorry but my fingers, my laptop and my brain haven’t been talking to each other very much lately.
However, all is now behind us (hopefully), we’ve crossed our unwelcome visitor off our Christmas card list and my brain has started to function again. Or as much as it ever did.
So, in my Idea Store column in Writers’ Forum I told Morwenna how I’d read and throughly enjoyed her novel The Glasshouse, even though it was way out of my reading comfort zone. I asked how how she came up with the idea for the book which was when I discovered it was actually the second part of a three book series. Such is her skill as a writer that I didn’t even realise that as I read the book and am certainly looking forward to reading the others in the series.
Below is the fascinating and thought provoking quote she gave me for the magazine article.
Morwenna
Once upon a time, when I was sixteen and at college, sitting at my desk in a Communications Studies class, my tutor, Annie, was teaching us about how something and something else were inextricably linked. I kind of missed the point of the lesson because I can’t remember what she was actually talking about, but I’d never heard the word ‘inextricably’ before and fell in love with everything about it.
I remember thinking at the time – I can still see where I was sitting and my old folder! – when I write my books, I’m going to write about a point in time as if affects everyone around it, and the characters will all be linked but they won’t know it. I thought about writing from the points of view of four friends – separate narratives rolled into one. The idea stayed with me, literally, for years, and I wrote a load of stories, messing about with format. As I’m also fascinated by the that fact that perception is everything, even our concepts of reality, I decided to write something based on my own experience of mental illness.
Throughout my life I’ve been in and out of various psychiatric units. In one hospital, I remember a member of staff commenting on the fact that one of the psychiatrists was very good looking – I hadn’t noticed until then! – and I wondered what would happen if a doctor fell in love with a patient or vice-versa; I explored the idea in the piece I wrote for my MA dissertation, and this transpired to be the bones of Glasshouse.
Muse were the inspiration for the band in Glasshouse, ‘Charcot’; along with all the gigs I went to in my teens and twenties. I found the name when I was planning a presentation on ‘Hysteria’ as part of my MA. Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist, who is best known nowadays for his work on hysteria and hypnosis; Freud was one of his students.
Although I had this fairly well-developed story, something told me that I couldn’t begin with it; instead, I wrote The (D)Evolution of Us first.
When I first fell in love, I fell in love hard. I was ill at the time, which exacerbated the situation, and when the relationship began to crack, I couldn’t understand what this lad was feeling, I’m ashamed to say. Elements of Adam and Cath came from that.
In truth, I am a survivor of abuse, and really this whole series of books (the published two, the third that’s in edits, and all the others in my notebooks and in my head) came about because I wanted to try to understand why people do the things they do – what makes someone cross a line. I hope one day to take a course in criminal psychology.
Everyone has their reasons, or, rather, catalysts, and our choices make us what we are to others. As I said, it’s all about perception – that’s why my website tagline is It’s all in your mind. I’ve spent a great deal of my life in existential crisis!
In essence, I got my ideas for this series of novels from my own experience of life, and my attempt to make sense of it.
Me
Thank you so much for that, Morwenna. That’s fascinating and I’m really looking forward to reading more of your work.. But let’s move on to your writing in general. What inspires you most? Is it characters? Settings? Or, maybe, books you have read?
Morwenna
I don’t think any one thing inspires me ‘most’. I kind of mash things together in my stories, so inspiration might come from a sentence I overhear walking down the street, or, in the case of Glasshouse, a turreted B and B by the sea. Novels aren’t written in a vacuum, and my personal experience of life pops up in various guises. And as a writer, of course I’m a reader. I love the exquisite and lyrical memoir writing of Horatio Clare, the bonkers stream-of-consciousness and snap-shot tripping of William H Burroughs, the bittersweetness of Jack Kerouac, and the absolutely incredible Dracula, by Bram Stoker, Joyce’s Ulysses, Luke Rhinehart’s, The Dice Man…so many!
Me
So how did your writing journey start? Have you always written? And what was your first published piece?
Morwenna
Writing has been the only constant in my life. I can’t remember ever not having written. The first proper story I wrote was about a frog. I was six years old, and I got told off because I wouldn’t stop writing it! It went on for a whole exercise book, and I never finished it! I took my first degree at the Uni of Manchester, because it had a great creative writing element, and wherever I’ve lived, I’ve joined writers’ groups and taken courses.
I self -published a novel – under a different name – when I was 36, but I didn’t have a clue about the industry, and have since taken it off the internet, although it might turn up in a different guise one day! Twenty years after my first degree, I took a Masters in Creative Writing at the Uni of Exeter – my dissertation eventually became Glasshouse. But it wasn’t until I took a course with Imagine, (click on the name for the link) called Novel in a Year, that I was ready to take my writing seriously, and approach agents and publishers. The (D)Evolution of Us was published by darkstroke, an independent publisher, in May 2020. And there’s no stopping me now!
Me
That’s great to hear. And what are your future plans?
Morwenna
Keep going and see what happens! As I mentioned earlier, my third novel is with my editor right now, and I’ll approach publishers when I’m happy with it!
I’m also writing a non-fiction book, and a short story. I have several other novels in the Glasshouse series planned out, and a whole load of possible plots for other works, including a tongue-in-cheek piece called My Boyfriend Invented the Jagerbomb.
Me
That’s certainly an intriguing title! I’ll look out for it. Now, how about telling us three things that we might not know about you.
Morwenna
1. I Have forgotten how to ride a bike
2. I can read music
3. I threw my bra at Jarvis Cocker at a Pulp gig in 1995.
Me.
Hmm. Well, I can still ride a bike and I can also read music. But I have never thrown my bra at Jarvis Cocker or anyone else come to that! So if I tell you it’s never too late to learn to ride a bike, and you tell me, it’s never too late to ….. well, maybe not!
Thanks for a great interview, Morwenna. it was fascinating.
Edited – Hot off the press
Since this interview, Morwenna’s third book, Underrated, has become available for preorder. It will be published on February 14
And finally, those all important social media links and buy links
When Morwenna Blackwood was six years old, she got told off for filling a school exercise book with an endless story when she should have been listening to the teacher/eating her tea/colouring with her friends. The story was about a frog. It never did end; and Morwenna never looked back.
Born and raised in Devon, Morwenna suffered from severe OCD and depression, and spent her childhood and teens in libraries. She travelled about for a decade before returning to Devon. She now has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter, and lives with her husband, son and three cats in a cottage that Bilbo Baggins would be proud of.
Morwenna is the author of best-selling noir psychological thrillers, The (D)Evolution of Us, and Glasshouse, published by darkstroke. The novels standalone but the characters and events interconnect; the third novel in the series, Underrated, is in progress.
When she is not writing, Morwenna works for an animal rescue charity, or can be found down by the sea.
I’m delighted to welcome to my blog this week Bill Todd, author of the Danny Lancaster series of crime thrillers.
I came across Bill as one of the contributors to the anthology Criminal Shorts which I have featured in previous blog posts. I was interested in featuring him in my Ideas Store column in Writers’ Forum as I knew my readers would be interested in learning how a writer of a series manages to keep coming up with ideas.
I was, therefore, delighted when he agreed to be featured both in my column and here on my blog.
Me.
Welcome, Bill and thank you for agreeing to sit in the hot seat and answer that question all writers are said to dread.
Where do you get your ideas from?
Bill
The old quote ‘Write drunk, edit sober,’ wrongly attributed to Ernest Hemingway, is not a reliable path to ideas although the odd glass or two can liberate the imagination.
Sometimes it’s like lightening from a clear sky but in my experience ideas have three sources – news, travel and ‘what if…’ moments.
Plot ideas can come from anywhere, anytime. When they do I push them away, ignore them. If they keep muscling back into my consciousness then I think I might be on to something.
I’m a journalist and travel writer and have written seven crime thrillers featuring wounded soldier turned investigator Danny Lancaster.
My first book came from a shipwreck. I remember watching TV news of the container ship Napoli damaged by wind and waves in Storm Kyrill in the English Channel.
When shipping containers washed ashore hundreds of people ignored police and scavenged the cargo. Booty included nappies, perfume and even motorbikes. My peculiar brain asked, what would happen if something dangerous washed ashore? The answers are in THE WRECK OF THE MARGHERITA.
When I was a kid I was a huge fan of rock bands, going to Zeppelin and Deep Purple gigs. The crazy lifestyle of drugs, groupies and trashing hotel rooms was admired back then but would raise a hashtag Twitter storm today. I wondered if consequences from those wild days might come back to haunt the aged rockers and so DEATH SQUAD was born.
I’ve always loved travelling, Interrailing in my teens and later visiting more than 40 countries as a travel writer. One favourite is Namibia, south west Africa. It’s like another planet, ancient deserts, multi-coloured cliffs, centuries-old trees preserved by fierce dry heat.
This inspired a plot that became ROUGH DIAMOND.
The same principle applied using Gibraltar as a character in ROCK HARD. This tiny spec at the entrance to the Med is dripping in history and just shouts stories.
Focusing on a plot can be a very single-minded activity so next I decided to challenge myself with something shorter. Brighton is a party city but it has a dark side. Homelessness, drugs and violence are real issues. I wanted to explore this and met many wonderful people while researching. The result was a novella and six short stories, GARGOYLE PIXIE DOG.
Then I had the urge to write something that needed an isolated, tranquil setting before the storm hits. The Seven Sisters and Cuckmere Haven on the Sussex coast was the perfect place and I loved writing GODLEFE’S CUCKOO.
I’ve had a passionate lifelong affair with the great British pub. Few things match the rush of tiny bubbles rising up a freshly-poured pint of real ale, impatient to bathe your waiting tastebuds. A locked pub murder mystery seemed an obvious move and, after much dedicated research, this became LAST ORDERS.
There’s no rhyme or reason to the birth of ideas. It’s just a case of keeping eyes, ears and mind open. And a notebook handy.
Me
Great answers, Bill – and I’ll certainly remember the tip about keeping a notebook handy. Thank you so much. As space in the magazine is limited, this blog now gives us the chance to go into your writing career in a little more detail.
How would you describe your genre? And do you write a series or can your books be read and standalone?
Bill
I describe my books as crime thrillers, a mix of detection and action. All seven feature wounded ex-soldier turned investigator for hire Danny Lancaster but all are self-contained. They can all be read as standalones and you can dib in anywhere.
Me.
What inspires you most? Is it characters, settings or maybe books you have read?
Bill
I think it’s a cocktail of characters and settings. Each element affects the other and, using my experiences as a travel writer, the settings are often characters in their own right as they influence characters and drive the action.
I’m always pleased with one of my characters when they abandon their carefully-plotted path and go off at a tangent. It’s as if they’ve developed a life of their own which has to be a good thing.
Books I have read had an influence in the early days. I was a big fan of Frederick Forsyth, Len Deighton and Jack Higgins.
Me.
And how did your writing journey start? Have you always written? And what was your first published piece?
Bill
When I was very young my grandfather Bill, a countryman living in town, wrote a series of short stories about the adventures of cave boys Wilto and Johto, based on me and my brother John.
It’s very un-PC, featuring hunting and trapping, but I treasure the yellowed and cracked notepaper it’s written on.
Grandad’s stories were an inspiration and I’ve written for as long as I can remember.
Working on newspapers and family life has filled much of my time, although I still wrote, so my first published work was probably my first Danny Lancaster novel.
Me.
That’s wonderful! I’m sure your grandfather would have been thrilled and delighted by your successful writing career.
What are your future plans? More Danny Lancaster, I hope!
Bill
I have a number of irons in the fire. Some are glowing gently, others are red hot. There are ideas for a new Danny Lancaster and a standalone thriller as well as a book of my travel diaries and, perhaps, editing my grandfather’s Wilto and Johto stories. Not sure yet which way I’ll go. I’m still waiting for the muse to decide.
Me.
Exciting times! I look forward to seeing which the muse decides for you.
Finally, Bill, how about telling us three things we might not know about you?
Bill.
My spiritual home is a small place on Crete but I’m not saying where.
I am addicted to steamed apple pudding but no one makes it like my late lamented grandmother Jean.
I’ve been tear gassed twice. Once by Greek riot police and once by the United States Air Force. In both cases I was an innocent bystander.
Me.
Ouch! But at least you can write with confidence about how it feels to be tear gassed. Nothing is ever wasted to a writer, is it?
Thank you so much for answering my questions for fully and so patiently. And the very best of luck wherever your muse agrees to take you.
As I kid I lay in bed at night making up stories in my head. Soon they transferred to paper and then screen. I’ve always written.
My career has been in journalism and travel writing but I have wound that down a little now so I can write more for myself.
In addition to my seven Danny Lancaster crime thrillers I’ve written three brief military histories.
GUNNER is based on my father’s World War Two diary. A CROCUS FROM JERUSALEM is an account of a great uncle serving as an infantryman in Palestine in 1917. PIGTAIL PILOT is the story of a young girl, passionate about flying, killed in an RAF training accident.
Running in joint second place after writing are passions for real ale, interesting cheese, photography and Crete.
However, much of my time now is occupied by three-year-old grandson Theo, a dinosaur fan and keen adventurer, and his baby brother Jack who enjoys staring and smiling.
You know that moment when you read a book and think “This one’s a winner”? It’s always exciting but even more so when the book you’re reading is a debut novel. It sends a tingle up your spine, doesn’t it?
Well, I had one such spine tingling moment recently when I picked up Trevor Wood’s “The Man on the Street” – yet another great recommendation from my favourite Facebook group, UK Crime Book Club.
This is a well written, fast paced book with some wonderfully drawn characters and a most unusual “detective”, Jimmy Mullen, an ex-serviceman who suffers from PTSD and has ended up living on the streets.
So, as always, I asked Trevor where he got the idea for the books (and yes, I’m happy to say it’s a series of three) and whether he would agree to be interviewed for my blog. And he said yes.
Me
Welcome, Trevor and thank you for the hours of reading pleasure you have given me and, I’m sure, many, many others. I’ve read the first two books in the series and am now eagerly awaiting number three which I understand is due out early next year.
So, the question all writers are said to dread! Where did the idea for “The Man In The Street” come from?
Trevor
The idea for The Man on the Street came out of sheer necessity. I was on the inaugural Crime Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. I signed up for the course for two reasons. The first was that although I had previously been a relatively successful playwright I felt that the two writing disciplines were almost entirely different and needed help to make the switch. The second was that the deliverable at the end of the course wasn’t a theoretical essay or thesis it was a 90,000 word crime novel.
It was only when I got to the first residential that I realized everyone had already developed an idea for their book except me. So the moment I got home I sat down with my wife and brainstormed ideas. One of the many things I love about modern-day crime fiction is the way you can explore almost any social issue within the guise of a crime novel and I was keen to write something outside the standard police procedural format. As soon my wife said ‘what if a homeless man sees a murder’ I knew that was an idea worth exploring, the only problem was that I wasn’t sure that I was the right writer to explore it.
Fortunately, as soon as I started to do some research one of the first things I came across was a statistic that suggested that around ten per cent of the homeless are ex-servicemen. That gave me a way in – before I started writing I was in the Royal Navy for 16 years. I was fascinated to explore how someone who had once, at the very least, been organized, disciplined and capable of working under intense pressure, could end up living on the streets. The answer in many cases was PTSD. I was in the RN during the Falkland War and though I was never sent down to the South Atlantic I had many friends who were and knew how deeply it had affected them. My protagonist, Jimmy Mullen, was starting to take shape.
My next breakthrough was to read about a new book in the Big Issue. The Veteran’s Survival Guide was written by an ex-soldier called Jimmy Johnson, who had served two tours in Belfast and ended up with PTSD. His condition was so bad that he killed a man whilst suffering an extreme flashback and is now in prison for life. The book is his way of trying to prevent anyone else going through a similar experience, primarily urging ex-servicemen to seek the help they need.
The last piece of the jigsaw that I needed was to learn more about homelessness so I started volunteering at the People’s Kitchen in my home city, Newcastle. It’s a charity that feeds around 200 people every day, amongst other services, entirely run and manned by volunteers. Working there, as a cook, every Tuesday afternoon has been eye-opening and helped me understand the difficulties and experiences that Jimmy experiences in The Man on the Street.
Me
That is fascinating and your painstaking research certainly paid off as the world you have created is very believable as are the characters. So, how would you desc ride your genre?
Trevor
I looked back to when I was pitching the book to agents and back then I was calling the book a ‘character-driven crime thriller which combines social realism with great pace.’ That’s obviously a bit of a mouthful so let’s go with gritty crime thrillers.
Interestingly The Man on the Street was originally written as a standalone for the obvious reason that it has a homeless protagonist, rather than the standard cop or detective. However, every publisher who showed an interest insisted it should be a series as readers would want to read more about the main characters. I didn’t want to move away from reality too much, with a homeless man tripping over bodies as if he lived in Midsomer, so we eventually compromised on a trilogy. The second in the series, One Way Street is already out in e-book and audio with the hardback arriving on June 10. The third in the series, Dead End Street, will be published in early 2022.
Me.
Well, you have certainly succeeded in writing something that combines social realism with great pace. What inspires you most?
Trevor
I had never been to Newcastle before I met and married a Geordie in my early thirties but fell in love with the place immediately and really wanted to capture the passion and energy of the place in the books so that’s one big inspiration.
I also like crime writers who managed to say something about the state of the nation in their books, Eva Dolan, Denise Mina and Doug Johnstone spring to mind so that’s another.
Me.
You’re in great company! Tell us a little about your writing journey.
Trevor
When I left the Royal Navy I retrained as a journalist and met Ed Waugh on my journalism course. We became firm friends almost instantly – we car-shared to the course and both were keen music fans and had the same taste in comedy shows.
A few years later we decided that we should try and write something together. Amazingly our first play, Good to Firm was on stage within six months of starting out. Our second play Dirty Dusting was a massive success, touring all over the world and is still touring now (when the theatres are open anyway). We went on to write around a dozen plays together, all of which had productions in the North East before moving to other parts of the country. You can check out our plays at www.edwaughandtrevorwood.co.uk
Me
And future plans?
Trevor
The third book in the Jimmy Mullen series is just being edited at the moment. I have a deal for one further book with my publishers and I’m currently working on a standalone thriller set in the wilds of Northumberland, which has given me a great excuse to go on some fantastic walks around the country recently!
Me
And finally, how about telling us three things about you that we might not know?
Trevor
1. At my advanced age of 61 I played for the triumphant England Crime Writers football team against our Scottish counterparts at Bloody Scotland the last time it was on in 2019. We won 3-0.
2 I’m the all-time leading run scorer for Mallards CC – the self-acclaimed friendliest cricket club in the North East. That’s not as impressive as it sounds – I’ve played a lot more games than anyone else and we’re not very good. Our website is a lot of fun though, especially the match reports and player profiles. You can see mine here: http://mallardscc.org.uk/player-profiles/trevor-wood
3 When I was 16 I appeared with my mum on the TV quiz show Three Little Words. Your partner was given a word and had to give you a one-word clue so you could guess what it was. The first word my mum was given was ‘illegitimate.’ She didn’t shy away from going for the obvious.
Me
Brilliant! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Author bio
Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 25 years and considers himself an adopted Geordie, though he still can’t speak the language. He’s a successful novelist and playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council. Prior to that he served in the Royal Navy for 16 years. Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA.
His first novel The Man on the Street, which is set in his home city and features a homeless protagonist, was published in March 2020. Lee Child described it as ‘an instant classic.’ It won the Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasey New Blood Dagger for best debut and has recently been longlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. It’s also shortlisted for the Crimefest Specsavers Debut Novel of the Year. The sequel, One Way Street, was released on e-book and audio in October and was published in hardback in June 2021.
Trevor is one of the founder members of the Northern Crime Syndicate and is a volunteer at the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle, a charity that provides hot meals for more than a hundred people every day.
Towards the end of 2020 I was delighted to be included in an anthology collated by one of my favourite Facebook groups and sold in aid of a very special charity.
UK Crime Book Club is a thriving, well run book club on Facebook with a great mix of authors and readers. (As I write this there are 18.7k members, of which over 500 are authors, including big names and some not-so-big names – like mine.)
The anthology, Criminal Shorts, is available in ebook and paperback format on Amazon (link here) and was the brainchild of authors Kath Middleton and Will Templeton. Several times a year UKCBC produces seasonal short stories (eg Christmas, Halloween etc) written by UKCBC members and shared on the UKCBC Facebook page.
“The idea of compiling an anthology first occurred to me a while ago, when the ‘Seasonal Shorts‘ events became so popular,” Will Templeton explains. “I discussed the notion with Kath Middleton, but between us we dismissed it as being too much hard work!
“When the idea was raised again in the UKCBC admin group chat it became apparent there was a strong interest in it and we wouldn’t be able to duck out of it so easily. (Just kidding!).
“The charity was chosen by the admins as one of our author members has a child at the Red Kite Academy, (www.redkitespecialacademy.co.uk) so we felt they would be an ideal recipient of the proceeds.
“The call for submissions brought us a staggering number of stories of a very high quality. This made whittling down the entries to a manageable amount very daunting, assessing originality and ingenuity to finish with a selection to impress the most discerning reader. We hope we have succeeded in creating a unique and exciting book.”
And they certainly succeeded. The anthology is a superb collection of finely crafted stories and I enjoyed every one.
So I asked the 22 authors involved if any of them would be kind enough to share with the readers of my Ideas Store column (in the UK magazine Writers’ Forum ) where they got the ideas for their stories from and was delighted when thirteen of them responded. So much so I had way too much material for one issue of my single page column and I had to spread them over three issues!
Also, because of issues of space, I was unable to supply the authors’ links or buy links and am happy to rectify this here.
I don’t want to make this post too long so I am splitting up the 13 authors who contributed quotes in my column into two posts, with the second being published within the next few days.
………………
Kath Middleton. Short story: Dark Fires
“I began with the idea of a girl being set up to take the blame for her twin brother’s fire-raising,” Kath explains. “As she was the subservient twin, it would be easy for him to fool her, and make her incriminate herself. As the story evolved, I started to consider the concept of gaslight, so the whole focus changed. Sometimes you don’t write the story you thought you would.”
From Kath’s Amazon author page
Kath Middleton began her writing with drabbles (100 words stories) and contributed a number to Jonathan Hill’s second drabble collection. It wasn’t long before she moved up a size to contribute short stories to anthologies. Shortly afterwards, she progressed to writing longer pieces and her first solo work, Ravenfold, was published to much acclaim. This was followed by the novella, Message in a Bottle. There are now several more publications from short stories to novels.
Kath likes to put her characters in difficult situations and watch them work their way out. She believes in the indomitable nature of the human spirit (and chickens).
Kath is retired. She graduated in geology and has a certificate in archaeology. When she’s in a hole, she doesn’t stop digging.
“The idea behind this was to try an do something different…and I remembered the Francis Ford Coppola film with Gene Hackman as a surveillance operative. It was called The Conversation – superb film,” he says.
“And that’s what started the idea of Brooks, a gun for hire, a cleaner; someone who sorts out someone else’s mess. I thought why not two men in a room having a conversation about sleazy goings on with a Government minister? Brooks would question the minister about his unpalatable habits and actions, each of which is revealed as the conversation progresses. Ultimately, the minister accepts that he has to resign.”
Brian has published two full length novels, short stories and novellas. He is currently working on follow ups to A Long Way from Home and The Tin Man, a new full length novel set in the US called Close To The Edge and a book of horror shorts.
“My story, Mission Accomplished, emerged out of pure panic,” he admits. “I had no story, so turned to my most read characters in an act of desperation. My first thought was: what if I send Jimmy Bliss to Ireland to see his mum and [something] happens? My second thought was: what if I send Penny Chandler with him? That was it. I started writing their journey from the airport and finished the entire story in a single sitting.”
It’s a cracking story and a testament to the strength of his characters when an author can just sit down and write an entire story straight off!
From Tony’s Amazon author page
Tony J Forder is the author of the bestselling DI Bliss crime thriller series. The first seven books, Bad to the Bone, The Scent of Guilt, If Fear Wins, The Reach of Shadows, The Death of Justice, Endless Silent Scream, and Slow Slicing, were joined in December 2020 by a prequel novella, Bliss Uncovered. The next book, The Autumn Tree, is scheduled for release on 24 May 2021.
Tony’s other series – two action-adventure novels featuring Mike Lynch – comprises both Scream Blue Murder, and Cold Winter Sun. These are currently unavailable, but will be back in 2021.
In addition, Tony has written two standalone novels: a dark, psychological crime thriller, Degrees of Darkness, and a suspense thriller set in California, called Fifteen Coffins, released in November 2020.
“DCI William Wright is a character from my Bunch Courtney crime series,” she says. “Wright was following a lead in my current work in progress that went nowhere useful. It is referenced in a very minor way in the book’s narrative, but I knew it was never going to fit, no matter how hard I tried. Trouble was that tentacle of thought simply refused to lay down and be quiet and so ‘Down the Sea’ came into being.”
From Jan’s Amazon author page
Jan Edwards is a UK author with several novels and many short stories in horror, fantasy, mainstream and crime fiction, including Mammoth Book of Folk Horror as well as various volumes of the MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes Stories. Jan is an editor with the award-winning Alchemy Press (includes The Alchemy Press Books of Horror series. Jan was awarded the Arnold Bennett Book Prize for Winter Downs, the first in her ww2 crime series The Bunch Courtney Investigations.
Winner of the Arnold Bennett Book Prize; Karl Edward Wagner award; Winchester Slim Volume award (for Sussex Tales). Short listed for both the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction and Best Collection.
“My story, Robbed, came from thinking about how someone who has served a prison sentence might feel when they are released,” she explains.
“So many things will seem familiar, yet so many things will have changed. The story starts with Robbie, on his release day, coming out of prison, determined to reclaim his dues and settle a few old scores.”
From Susan’s Amazon page
Susan Handley grew up in England, in the Midlands and despite a love of literature, and crime fiction in particular, she never dreamt of being able to carve out a career as a published writer. But the desire to write never left her and after years of writing by night she has at last been able to share the results of her efforts.
Susan now lives in a small village in rural Kent with her husband and two cats. When she’s not indulging in her love of writing crime fiction she loves walking (the hillier the better), bike riding (the flatter the better) and tending her veggie patch.
Susan has published three novels. A Confusion of Crows is the first to feature DC Cat McKenzie, a one-time marine biologist turned detective. In the second in the series, Feather and Claw, Cat is holidaying on the sunny isle of Cyprus when the death of a fellow guest sees her put her holiday on hold and turn detective. In the third Cat McKenzie mystery, The Body Politic, Cat finds herself investigating the violent death of local councillor. As she uncovers the truth, Cat learns as much about herself as she does the dead man.
Susan has also produced two short story collections: Crime Bites Volume 1 and Volume 2. Full of bite-size crime stories there’s bound to be something to suit all tastes.
Cecilia found her inspiration from a series of walks she did with her sister-in-law on the Fife Coast Path.
“In the story I wanted to weave together the walk itself, the uncovering of a secret, and the main character developing as a result of her experiences,” she explains. “At first the walk was the most important thing, but in the end I feel the character development came to be the core of it.”
From Cecilia’s Amazon page
Cecilia Peartree is the pen name of a writer who lives in Edinburgh and has worked as a computer programmer and a database manager.
She has been a compulsive writer since she first learned to write, and by the age of sixteen she had a whole cupboard full of unfinished stories.
Cecilia writes the Pitkirtly series of quirky mystery novels set in an imaginary town on the coast of Fife, and the Quest mystery/adventure novels set in the early 1950s. Recently, almost without meaning to, she has also written a short series of Regency novels.
As befits a mystery writer, she is often surrounded by cats while working on her novels.
“I was intrigued by the idea of starting a book with someone walking into a situation he didn’t understand. It seemed a good place to start for a short story, too,” she says. “Apart from that the story was one of those ones that just seems to happen – though I can say that the room in the story that contains only a cistern handle and nothing else was something we found when viewing a house, once!”
From Lexie’s Amazon author page
Lexie Conyngham is a historian living in the shadow of the Highlands. Her Murray of Letho novels are born of a life amidst Scotland’s old cities, ancient universities and hidden-away aristocratic estates, but she has written since the day she found out that people were allowed to do such a thing. Beyond teaching and research, her days are spent with wool, wild allotments and a wee bit of whisky.
Read her blog at www.murrayofletho.blogspot.com for some nice veg and occasional insights into Scottish history and wildlife.
………………..
Bill Todd. Short story: Lucky Break
Bill Todd has written seven successful crime thrillers featuring wounded ex-soldier turned private investigator Danny Lancaster. “For the UKCBC anthology I thought I’d have a shot at a Danny short story which presents different writing challenges.”
A challenge to which the author rose magnificently as his short story, Lucky Break, made me want to read more about Danny Lancaster and I’m now really looking forward to reading the first in the series, The Wreck of the Margarita. The ebook is currently free on Amazon. (link here)
Bill’s author bio
I’ve spent my working life as a journalist. You meet a lot of people, see things, learn stuff. For a crimewriter, it’s a plot factory.
I’ve also done a lot of travelwriting. It’s not all cocktails under the palm trees but it is a fantastic job that’s taken me to more than 40 countries, from the white wastes of Arctic Finland to the deserts of Namibia.
People often ask my favourite place. In a world of globalisation, many destinations look the same but Iceland and Namibia are like stepping onto another planet. Go if you can.
I’ve also enjoyed a long love affair with Western Crete, the mountains, coastline, food and people. And I was delighted and surprised to receive the Ed Lacy Gibraltar travel award in 2007.
Another interest is my family tree. I’ve traced the ancestors back to William of Byfield, a farmer in 1600s Northamptonshire, just down the road from Shakespeare.
I love maps. They might seem old fashioned in the age of GPS but they tell stories, make promises. I have a ragbag collection of more than 3,000.
I’m also a fan of interesting cheeses, good beer and wilderness. They’re like Marmite, you’re an empty places person or you’re not.
I have written six crime thrillers and a book of short stories featuring Danny Lancaster, a wounded Afghanistan veteran turned private investigator.
It is my great pleasure to welcome historical novelist Sally Zigmond to my blog this week. I featured Sally in my Ideas Store column in the December 2020 Issue of Writers’ Forum magazine in which I asked her where she got the idea for her novel, The Lark Ascending, which I had recently read and enjoyed.
She explained how a shopping trip on a snowy January day was the inspiration behind the book which is set in Leeds just after WW1.
“When we lived in Harrogate I often shopped in the city centre and loved its celebrated Victorian shopping arcades.
“One day in a freezing-cold January day I took shelter under the beautiful glass roof of the Queen’s Arcade and shopped until I dropped (well almost). When I emerged into busy Briggate, I realised it had been snowing for a long time but I hadn’t noticed!
“So there and then, I had the first scene of my next novel, The Lark Ascending, about a shop assistant who worked in the arcade and a strange day on a cold January morning. Only I wanted a change from the Victorian age and settled on the period just after World War One.”
The Lark Ascending is a beautifully told story and deals with some quite difficult subjects that faced people in that post-war era with great sensitivity and empathy. I can really recommend it.
So I invited Sally to come along to my blog and answer yet more questions from me. And, happily, she said yes!
Me
Welcome, Sally. And thank you for agreeing to appear on my blog. Thank you, too, for giving me several hours of reading pleasure from The Lark Ascending. I don’t often read historical novels but I loved it so much that I’m really looking forward to reading more of your work.
Do you write series of standalones?
Sally
I write historical novels and my published short stories are mainly historical. So far all my novels are stand-alones but the novel I am currently writing could well be the first novel in a three or four-book series. I shall wait and see!
Me
I’ll look forward to that. I love getting into a series. So, what inspires you most (apart from snowy shopping arcades, that is!)? Is it characters? Or settings? Maybe even books you have read?
Sally
For everything I write, whether it be a novel or short story, I have to first choose a setting and a historical period. Then the main character(s). Plot comes much later. I think of my character at the beginning and where I hope to finish. Then I start fleshing out how that character (or characters) gets from on to the other. That’s the novel.
Me
And how did your writing journey start? Have you always written?
Sally
I’ve always loved reading and writing. English was my favourite subject at school and I studied English Literature at Uni. When my children were settled in school, I took various adult education classes. I then spotted one called “Writing For Pleasure and Profit.” So began a long learning curve.
Me.
Ah, I remember taking a course with a similar title! Now tell me a little of your future writing plans.
Sally
As I mentioned earlier I am currently writing a novel which may be the first part of a three or even four part serial beginning in the 14th century and concluding in the 16th.
Me
That sounds exciting. And finally, tell us three things that we may not know about you.
Sally
1 I used to work at New Scotland in Interpol.
2 When I was on a train from Paris to Lyon full of French soldiers we were halted for 3 hours by a bomb scare.
3 Diana Dors once bumped into me on Euston Street in London and almost knocked me flying!
Me
Wow! Plenty of material for a writer there then! There’s your challenge for 2021 then – to try and work all three of those things into one story!
Thank you so much Sally for answering my questions so patiently.
The Blurbs and buy links for Sally’s books
HOPE AGAINST HOPE
Stoical and industrious Carrie and carefree and vivacious May lose both home and livelihood when their Leeds pub is sold out from under them to make way for the coming of the railway. They head for Harrogate to find work and lodging in the spa town’s hotel trade. But the sisters fall prey to fraudsters and predators and are also driven apart by misunderstanding, pride and a mutual sense of betrayal and resentment.
Alex Sinclair, a bold and warm-spirited Scot, has eschewed the wishes of his father to become a railway engineer. His companion, Charles Hammond is the dissolute heir to a vast fortune, withheld from him by an overbearing mother and grasping stepfather. Charles bides his time as a physician, a profession for which he lacks both aptitude and enthusiasm.
The futures of both men will become bound up with those of the two sisters.As time passes the sisters overcome their adversities: May becomes the most sought after dressmaker in Paris; Carrie, the proprietor of the most successful hotel in Harrogate. Alex pours himself into new railway projects. Meanwhile, having been almost destroyed through gambling, drunkenness and self-loathing, Charles starts on the long and difficult road to redemption and fulfilment.Carrie and May have now been estranged for several years. But in 1848, the Year of Revolutions the streets of Paris erupt in bloody insurrection while Alex Sinclair is commissioned to bring the railway to Harrogate.
CHASING ANGELS ( novella)
In 1794, Henriette d’Angeville was born into a French aristocratic family in crisis.Her grandfather was guillotined and her father imprisoned but later released causing the family to live on their memories in an impoverished château. In 836, she was the first woman to reach the summit of Mont Blanc – in a bonnet and petticoats!This novella is a fictional account of her life in which her love of the outdoors and her determination to excel in her climbing endeavours, which made her an object of derision and pity, is examined in a witty and sympathetic portrayal. We see her father, her mother and her younger brother. We see her at school and the circumstances in which she ‘rescued’ her companion, Jeannette, from destitution. We meet the Protestant ladies of Genevan society and the men of Chamonix who accompany her on her expedition.Starting close to her death, Henriette looks back on her life and her great achievement. Full of humour and love, Chasing Angelstell the story of a truly remarkable woman
THE LARK ASCENDING
Leeds 1919. The war is over but young Alice Fields, who hates her job in an old-fashioned shop, isn’t celebrating. However, her life is about to change when a rich customer leaves behind an expensive fur stole and Alice makes great efforts to return it. Dark secrets bring not only money but misery, too. During the contrasting worlds of the roaring twenties and the General Strike, love and deep friendships bloom like poppies on the devastated battlefields over which the lark rises again.
Social Media Links, blog, website etc.
My blog needs attention and more time! Sallyzigmond.blogspot.com
Twitter. @sallyzigmond
Facebook. sallyzigmond
Buy links
The Lark Ascending
Hope Against Hope
Chasing Angels
Author Bio
I was born in Leicester, moved to Lincoln then back to Market Harborough. Leics where In attended senior school. I studied at what is now Queen Mary |University, London where I met my husband. We moved to Yorkshire where my two sons were born. Now retired, we live in Middlesbrough with stunning views over the Cleveland Hills.
PAULA WILLIAMS 