Authors Electric

Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Fest Over the last few months, there's been something on my mind that's not totally wholesome – crime! No, I'm not about to commit any dastardly deed, I'm talking about crime writing. I know we're Author's Electric, but I hope you'll forgive me for talking about my latest book, a crime thriller published by Bloodhound Books.  I wrote Kill or Die (under a different title) some years ago. I sent it off to a couple of publishers, who rejected it for very different reasons. One said it was too graphic and gory, the other said it wasn't graphic enough for a crime novel. So what did I do? Put it away in a drawer and forgot all about it. A couple of years ago I came across it again, and noticed a handwritten comment on the front page from a reader who had said they liked my style. Encouraged, I read through it again myself, and decided it wasn't too bad. So I re-worked and re-wrote and then eventually sen...

You know the pickle I was in if you've written a mystery series or thought of writing one. How the devil do you keep it fresh in book after book after book? Are there ways to pick up speed if your novels typically take you a couple of years to write? And can you accomplish this without loss of quality? You fear that the genie Slyboots may prove to be a false friend: Fear not. The late great Lawrence Sanders proved that Slyboots can be a best friend. His star-making Deadly Sins were long, intricate, densely plotted and gorgeously written mysteries that must have come damn close to breaking his back. Four years passed between each of the four series entries. Sanders's solution: a lighter and breezier series of Commandment novels, each with a different cast, in between. And, churned out in his twilight years, the fluffy Archy McNally mysteries read as if dictated while sipping bubbly. Thinking of Sanders, I wondered if I might start a spin-off of my Boss MacTa...