Colin Garrow's Blog, page 78

‘Raven Black’ by Ann Cleeves

Raven Black (Shetland) The beginning of a new year brings death to Shetland when the body of a young woman is found lying in the snow. But the murder also sparks memories of another girl who disappeared years before, and the focus of the community falls, once again, on simple-minded loner Magnus Tait. The police … Continue reading →

How to Write an Unfinished Novel

  Not everything that ends up as a novel starts out as a novel. As Stephen King has said, you don’t know what a piece of writing will become until you write it. Might be a short story, might be a novella , or it might be an epic novel. And if it doesn’t go … Continue reading →

Blogging – The Other Way of Writing a Book

There are two ways of writing a book – the first one is the obvious route: start at the beginning and write until you get to the end. The other way is to write a book that isn’t a book at all – in fact, it’s a blog. Years ago, we used to occasionally read … Continue reading →

‘Barking at Winston’ by Barry Stone

Barking at Winston When battered rescue dog Bruce is adopted by a wild and wacky family, he finds his new owners have troubles of their own. As well as sharing several episodes from his own short life, Brucie uses his canine second sight to dig into the truth behind a complex tale of family life … Continue reading →

How to Be a Crap Writer

A few months ago I started writing reviews of the books I read. This prompted me to look at adding a bit more variety to my reading habits. That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to start perusing the sort of books I wouldn’t normally touch with a barge pole, but rather, those I might previously … Continue reading →

‘How to Be a Victorian’ by Ruth Goodman

How To Be a Victorian If you’ve ever wondered what life was like during the reign of Queen Victoria, you should either build a time machine, or get your hands on this book. Historian Ruth Goodman charts the Victorian experience from getting up to going to bed, and everything in-between. Goodman is a historian and … Continue reading →

‘The House of Silk’ by Anthony Horowitz

The House of Silk: The Bestselling Sherlock Holmes Novel Sherlock Holmes is dead and now his ageing companion, Dr Watson, also teeters towards death. With no-one left to answer to, the great detective’s biographer puts pen to paper one last time to document two very different, yet inexplicably connected, mysteries. When Edmund Carstairs turns up … Continue reading →

A Book Cover Paints A Thousand Words…

When I started putting ideas together for the cover of my middle-grade book ‘The House That Wasn’t There’, it’s fair to say I didn’t really know what I was doing. The problem was that, as usual, I’d come up with a title that intrigued me, but part of that intrigue meant I had to work … Continue reading →

Got my ePub working…

Not sure about this, but well worth taking a look. Re-blogged from Stevie Turner…Filed under: Writing

‘Long Way Home’ by Eva Dolan

Long Way Home (Zigic & Ferreira) When a man is found burned to death in a garden shed, Hate Crimes Unit Detective Zigic and bolshie sidekick Ferreira find themselves battling a wall of silence. Investigating an ill-treated and untrusting immigrant population who are slow to give up the truth, the good guys are left with … Continue reading →