Patrick C. Walsh's Blog, page 2

Writing about what you don’t know

Writing about what you know is probably good advice for any writer. However, if you’re writing a series, sooner or later you are going to have to try something new. This happened to me by book six, Two Dogs. Part of this book, by necessity, had to be set in Paris so I was somewhat […]

Why FOLO (fear of losing out) shouldn’t ever be an issue

I was prompted to write this after driving home from hospital the other day. My wife’s temporary residence there has meant me trying every route from home to hospital to find out which might be the best. There are three routes that I can take – So, one of these routes will be the optimum […]

My Top Ten crime movies

I was recently thinking about how movies have been a constant backdrop in my life and how crime movies, especially film noir, have contributed in leading me into a career in crime writing. There are loads of Top Ten lists around and I began wondering what my Top Ten of crime movies might look like. […]

Spring and it all starts again…

My cherry tree is in bloom again. I say ‘my’ but it doesn’t belong to me. It’s situated on the street just in front of my house and I must look at it at least thirty to forty times a day through my window while I’m resting my eyes from my computer screen. In winter, […]

The recipe for a good murder mystery…

I’ve been reading one of Miguel Barclay’s cook books and I really like the simplicity of his recipes. The book is based on the notion that you can eat well for just one pound ($1.20) a portion but, besides the fact that they taste good and are nutritious, the real appeal for me is that […]

I stand with Gary

For those of you who don’t live in the UK you might find this explainer useful. Gary Lineker is a former footballer, a great centre-forward, who played for Leicester, Tottenham and Barcelona amongst others. Since retiring from football, Gary became the presenter on Match of the Day, a football highlights programme that goes out every […]

Do it yourself book covers – Part 4 – Ebooks and paperbacks

Once upon a time, books were precious objects and meant only for people who could afford them. They were mostly leatherbound and often with tooled gold leaf such as this first edition of Dicken’s classic Christmas novel. Books like these were put on display and were as much a status object as having fine paintings […]

Do it yourself book covers – Part 3 – Using images

While there are some book covers that don’t use images like the one on the left, I’d guess that these are in the minority. However, in this case, the stylised 3D font used in the title is a sort of image anyway. So, the first question you might want to ask is, does my book […]

Do it yourself book covers – Part Two – How to compile your cover

You might wonder at the word ‘compile’ being used in this context. After all, it means ‘ to collect information in order to produce a list or a book‘ or, indeed, a crossword. However, I think that it’s quite appropriate as every book cover can be viewed as something of a puzzle. Firstly, I’d like […]

Do it yourself book covers – Part One – Introduction

When I published my first book, I was lucky in that I knew someone who was a talented graphic designer. I gave him a brief and he came back to me with some wonderful images. This worked fine until the designer was no longer available and I was faced with a dilemma. Get a new […]