From HJ Reed, author of four Inspector Crow novels who is branching out with new hero Reuben Quinn Down in the West of England, where I live, a lot of people are very fed up! Tempers are frayed, the usual cheery greetings as I walk my dog seem to be absent, and the atmosphere is…
I’m pleased to announce that my third book The People’s Republic of Love will be available next year from the world’s first climate-positive publisher, SRL Publishing. Here’s a bit about the book: Tamsin, a shy tunnel engineer, is quietly supportive when her best friend Charlotte becomes a contestant on a new reality TV series. But…
The creative process. The writer’s methodology. Inspiration versus perspiration. Whatever words you want to use. But as a writer you will know that there are two distinct facets to your writing life. Loosely termed, they are the creative and the craft. I’m not saying anything that any writer doesn’t already know, but having been entrenched…
This latest update is quite an exciting one. The DI Crow series is currently going through a revision, and Her Last Chance, The Killing Ground and A Fatal Pact will be back on Amazon over the coming weeks, in collaboration with a fantastic Bristol-based publisher, Malago Press. It’s great to see my favourite detective published…
For anyone who doesn’t know Bristol, Clifton is a village in the way that Greenwich (NYC) is a village. I mean depsite proximity to the wide open spaces of the Downs, it’s part of the city, but a part with a very specific and closely guarded identity: elegant buildings, boutique shops, arty vibes. Perched close…
Just Write Bristol will be at Clevedon Literary Festival, a Celebration of the Book, running two fabulous events. When: 2nd November 2024 Where: Princes Hall, Princes Road, Clevedon, BS21 7SZ 3.40 pm – 4.30 pm What makes a great crime novel? In this session, Psychologist Heather Reed and Journalist Jason Mann will examine the key…
11 July 2024 marks 30 years since I lost my dad. It’s also the birthday of the character in the novel I started to write immediately afterwards. I’m now, for various reasons, rewriting that novel.
Since I finally ‘came out’ as a crime writer last spring, with the publication of Her Last Chance, the first in the DI Crow crime thriller series, the questions I’ve been asked most by those who know me is, ‘Where did the urge to write crime come from?’ usually followed by ‘What on earth goes on in your head?’ After all, once I yank my leopard print shopping trolley out of the cupboard and head off to the local supermarket, the only crime-busting hero I remotely resemble is Miss Marple.
Most of the time authors carefully select their settings, but sometimes the story just revs its engine and takes you off to who-knows-where. Hence I found, completely by accident, this one little scene in The Undoing of Arlo Knott setting itself at an old workplace of mine – Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham.
‘Buried Letters’ appeared on BBC Radio Bristol between 7-10pm Fri 18 Aug 2023. It is is a short piece of award-winning creative writing based on Chloris Drabble