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M.P. Peacock

Goodreads Author

Born

in London

Website

https://mppeacock.co.uk

Twitter

Murderotsof

Genre

Mystery, Historical Fiction, Crime

Member Since

August 2016

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M P Peacock is the nom de plume for the brother and sister writing team, Paul Youlten and Maddy Coelho. They live in East Sussex and write in the cafe at the local Kino cinema in Rye. Their first novel, Murder on the Strike of Five, is a historical murder mystery, set at the start of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The story follows a young Russian Countess and her maid as they flee from Moscow on the Trans-Siberian train to Vladivostok. When murder strikes, all the first-class passengers come under suspicion and it soon becomes clear that each one of them had a motive to kill, as well as the means and the opportunity.
Readers who enjoy a classic whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers or Josephine Tey will enjoy reading ...more

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I inspire to become a writer. I've been pretty frustrated with my writing, comparing myself to other writers and looking at the way they write with such fascinating characters, great descriptive language, and realistic dialogue. I've been reading Murder On the Strike Of Five and I love the descriptive language you provide and the way you describe the characters. I wish I could do that. How can I be a better writer?

M.P. Peacock We love creating characters and because two of us write together we spend a lot of time talking about them as though they were real people. We also pi…moreWe love creating characters and because two of us write together we spend a lot of time talking about them as though they were real people. We also picked some actors who we thought would suit the roles so that we could be sure we were imagining them in the same way as each other. Find pictures of people who might look like some of your characters and write notes on what their personalities are like. Put them together in a scene and invent a conversation between them which moves the story onwards. Read it out loud to find out whether the dialogue sounds natural and realistic. Don't give up - practice makes perfect and the more you do the better you'll get.
We are so happy that you are reading Murder on the Strike of Five and enjoying it - Thank you!(less)

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Working together must be fun! I've never done a collaborative project, so I'm curious to know how that works. Do you write separate scenes or chapters, and then edit each other's work? Your book sounds really fun, by the way, and I'm going to be ordering it soon. I enjoyed the sample I read on Kindle.

M.P. Peacock Hi Nupur - yes, collaborative writing is really fun. My brother and I have been working together for 18 months and not fallen out yet! We started by b…moreHi Nupur - yes, collaborative writing is really fun. My brother and I have been working together for 18 months and not fallen out yet! We started by brainstorming the story outline extensively and jointly planning about 40 chapters with a brief paragraph about what took place in each chapter. Then we wrote separate chapters, mostly alternating, until we finished the first draft. Next we swapped and edited each other's chapters. Finally we got some external advice from friends - especially Paul's Russian friends and jointly worked on a third draft. The great thing about working as a team is that you don't find excuses to put off writing: it becomes an obligation to someone else in a positive way - if I don't do my share of writing, then I'm preventing my brother from completing a book.
We hope you enjoy reading Murder on the Strike of Five - we've been really pleased with the feedback from Goodreads and Amazon readers so far.(less)

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M.P. Peacock’s books

Average rating: 3.73 · 26 ratings · 5 reviews · 1 distinct work

Murder on the Strike of Five

3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings — 2 editions

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M.P.’s Recent Updates

M.P. Peacock and 4 other people liked Tom Veale's review of Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction: "I picked this book up after seeing it listed in DFW’s library and realising that many of the authors included have been praised by Wallace (and others...) in his interviews and non-fiction. That’s not the only reason I picked this anthology up becaus" Read more of this review »
Jan 18, 2024 02:46AM · see review

M.P. Peacock and 4 other people liked Tom Veale's review of Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction:

"I picked this book up after seeing it listed in DFW’s library and realising that many of the authors included have been praised by Wallace (and others...) in his interviews and non-fiction.

That’s not the only reason I picked this anthology up becaus" Read more of this review »

Jan 18, 2024 02:46AM · see review

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M.P.’s Quotes

“The house only isn't enough, you see. It has to have
the setting. That's just as important. It's like a ruby or an emerald. A beautiful stone is only a beautiful stone. It doesn't lead you anywhere further. It doesn't mean anything, it has no form or significance until it has its setting. And the setting has to have a beautiful jewel to be worthy of it. I take the setting, you see, out of the landscape, where it exists only in its own right. It has no meaning until there is my house sitting proudly like a jewel within its grasp.”
― Agatha Christie, Endless Night

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M.P.’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by Kathy

Oct 19, 2016 06:18AM

Thanks for the friend request M.P. Look forward to discussing some great books. I must check yours out - it looks fascinating!

Bohenna isn't a real place - it's a product of my imagination - but it was inspired by a real village in an area I know quite well.

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