by Derek | May 31, 2020 | Reading, Reviews, Writing
Back when I was an aspiring writer, one thing would always puzzle me, and that thing was the oft-repeated phrase “Find your own voice.”“Understand character,” I got, as I did “Know the difference between story and plot,” but the own voice thing – especially because it...
by Derek | May 5, 2020 | Memories, Reading, Reviews, The Isolation Diaries, Writers Life
At Noir At The Bar Newcastle 2019 With Simon Bewick, Gytha Lodge, Vic Watson, Jacky Grámosi Collins, Neil Broadfoot, Nic Parker, Mik Brown, Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Jónína Leósdóttir Zoe Sharp and Judith O’ReillytagTag Well here we are again....
by Derek | Feb 23, 2020 | Reading, Reviews, Writers Life, Writing
It’s often commented that the classic American Noir is basically a Western retold: That the lone Gumshoe making right in a corrupt and lawless world is Shane, strolling into town and restoring fairness. It’s also been noted that crime fiction, in it’s purest, is a...
by Derek | Dec 20, 2019 | Art, Reading, Reviews
It’s been a weird year.Let’s face it: The last few years have been like a never ending bin fire of Nonsense. But in amongst it all, there has – as always – been one constant: The power of books to transport me, to comfort me, to inspire, enervate and help...
by Derek | Oct 25, 2019 | Reading, Reviews
Jo Perry is well known and loved, round these parts, for her series of “Dead is…” books featuring Charlie & Rose. Those books – which I have described as being what would happen if Samuel Beckett wrote a crime series, as well as being “Like ‘The Wire’ meets ‘The...
by Derek | Sep 27, 2019 | Reading, Reviews
I don’t know if the Icelandic language has a word for Puzzle-box, but if they do, then it would perfectly describe this novel. This last act in the trilogy which began with Snare (2017) and proceeded with Trap (2018) isn’t another unnecessary sequel featuring the...
