Keith Dixon's Blog, page 7
June 2, 2013
Opening up to the market ...
Well, a post about me and not other writers today.
I've done well out of Amazon's Select programme for publishers, which allows you to nominate your books for 'free' download every 90 days. The free downloads attract a lot of people and the idea is that once the free days have finished, readers will continue to download that particular book or any others of yours that are available to buy. The
I've done well out of Amazon's Select programme for publishers, which allows you to nominate your books for 'free' download every 90 days. The free downloads attract a lot of people and the idea is that once the free days have finished, readers will continue to download that particular book or any others of yours that are available to buy. The
May 30, 2013
Dan Brown's Inferno ... putting us all through Hell
I'm not going to write much about this because I don't want to give him the publicity he doesn't need (as if MY critique is going to have any impact!)
Put simply, this is a terrible book. The Da Vinci Code was badly-written but at least the plot was propulsive. The Lost Symbol was in the same vein and made you want to know what happened in the end. Inferno is just ... boring. I've been reading
Put simply, this is a terrible book. The Da Vinci Code was badly-written but at least the plot was propulsive. The Lost Symbol was in the same vein and made you want to know what happened in the end. Inferno is just ... boring. I've been reading
May 9, 2013
That freebie time again ...
Yes, it's time for my very first book to come around again for its free Kindle download session on Amazon. Last time out Altered Life made number 1 in the Hard Boiled category, so it would be good if it could make it again! The link is on the right hand side of the page.
Also, I'm pleased to say that I was made a 'featured author' on Indie Book Bargains, as the badge below left shows. Click on
Also, I'm pleased to say that I was made a 'featured author' on Indie Book Bargains, as the badge below left shows. Click on
April 26, 2013
Joe R. Lansdale's East Texas adventures
[I wrote this in June 2007. I'm reposting it on this blog in honour of the publication of the new Hap and Leonard book, and on the news that a series called Hap and Leonard is in pre-production. Let's hope it gets the green light!]
Do you ever have sudden enthusiasms for writers?
You come across a book – perhaps remaindered, or in a second-hand shop, and therefore cheap – and you buy it because
Do you ever have sudden enthusiasms for writers?
You come across a book – perhaps remaindered, or in a second-hand shop, and therefore cheap – and you buy it because
April 16, 2013
Robert Littell - The Company he keeps
There seems to me to be three titans in the world of espionage thrillers - John le Carre, Charles McCarry and Robert Littell. The first two of these were involved in the world of espionage in some form (though le Carre plays down his active involvement) while Littell was a close observer of the cold war as a journalist for Newsweek for many years.
After the early books le Carre went off the boil
After the early books le Carre went off the boil
April 12, 2013
Placeholder!
I've been very remiss with this blog for a while now because I've been working on other projects.
However, I'm working through Robert Littell's mega-tome, The Company, and will be coming back to it shortly. He's probably my favourite spy-novel writer and nothing in this book suggests that's going to change.
In other news, I had a successful 'free Kindle download' run of The Hard Swim, with over
However, I'm working through Robert Littell's mega-tome, The Company, and will be coming back to it shortly. He's probably my favourite spy-novel writer and nothing in this book suggests that's going to change.
In other news, I had a successful 'free Kindle download' run of The Hard Swim, with over
February 27, 2013
The new Sam Dyke
A long time since my last post as I've been putting to bed my latest Sam Dyke novel, The Hard Swim.
The novel begins in Edinburgh Zoo and finishes in a small village in France. Sam finds himself involved in helping a young woman whose family history in the Second World War might compromise the present-day career of a government minister. And he doesn't like that, so he hires a team to stop it
The novel begins in Edinburgh Zoo and finishes in a small village in France. Sam finds himself involved in helping a young woman whose family history in the Second World War might compromise the present-day career of a government minister. And he doesn't like that, so he hires a team to stop it
January 5, 2013
He just couldn't reach ...
Sorry for the umpteenth pun on Jack Reacher, but it seems all the bad pre-publicity caught up with Tom Cruise's take on One Shot. Too bad. Here's an analysis on a nice site that looks at writing and film:
Word and Film
Word and Film
December 7, 2012
The Next Big Thing ... at last
I've been a bad boy, twice over.
I agreed to participate in a blog post round-robin, where as a poster you answer a number of questions about your writing and then 'tag' five other writers, who would also answer the questions and tag 5 more posters each ...
Well, first up I couldn't find 5 other crime writers to tag - mainly because the ones I asked were already linked up to someone else in the
I agreed to participate in a blog post round-robin, where as a poster you answer a number of questions about your writing and then 'tag' five other writers, who would also answer the questions and tag 5 more posters each ...
Well, first up I couldn't find 5 other crime writers to tag - mainly because the ones I asked were already linked up to someone else in the
November 27, 2012
Lee Child - still reaching
In an alternative universe, I could have been Lee Child. We're almost exactly the same age and were brought up in Coventry. I suspect, however, that he's brighter than me. He got himself a job in TV production and when he was 'let go' he moved to America to write thrillers, which he's done to staggering success.
When you come across your first Jack Reacher book it's a hell of a ride. Reacher is
When you come across your first Jack Reacher book it's a hell of a ride. Reacher is
