I have now finished the manuscript of the next DI Hunter Thriller. I wanted to treat you all to a short excerpt from near the beginning of the book. Please let me know if you enjoy it. The Extract Chapter one “The festival is here again. I love this time of year. The city is so busy and vibrant,” Hunter smiled at Meera. “Edinburgh is such a beautiful city, isn’t it?”               “It is. But what we call The Festival is really several different festivals of the arts. The original Festival...

Inexperienced authors have often asked me if they need beta readers, where to find beta readers or even what beta readers are, so let me try to explain what they are, where to find them and why they are important. Beta readers are those to whom you entrust your manuscript after you have finished with it, but before you send it to your editor for polishing. They are a vital part of your book's journey to publication and must be familiar with your genre, fluent in the language in which you...

Most people imagine a writer as a lonely individual hunched over a desk in a dimly lit room with crumpled paper strewn about working on their next novel. However, writing is so much more. It is thought put to page, even if we do it in a blog, a letter to a friend or a journal for our own memo r ies.  In  most cases, writing is most useful as a tool for thinking and expression as well as creativity. Writing can also be good for us. In what ways? Let's think about that. To improve your mood...