Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Charme of cosy mysteries

What have Miss Marple, Agatha Raisin, Jessica Fletcher, Professor Peter Shandy, and Sarah Kelling in common? They all are despite the differences in era, occupation, age, and location amateur sleuths starring in their very own cosy mystery adventures. By definition a cosy or cozy mystery as I found it spelled a lot is a sub-genreContinue reading “The Charme of cosy mysteries”

The strange inspiration of a graveyard

I really like the typical english graveyard. Those old leaning headstones randomly scattered around the church, so very different from the graveyards I’m used to from Germany. There your “eternal” resting place gets rented to you for 20 or 30 years depending on soil structure and then the plot gets cleared and rented out toContinue reading “The strange inspiration of a graveyard”

Writing manuals – Help or Hindrance?

When you are good at doing something you’d think there is no harm in improving your abilities to get even better with it. And there are all sorts of tutorials or how to books available everywhere. Be it DIY tutorials, handy household hints, gardening advice or how to knit socks, there is something for everythingContinue reading “Writing manuals – Help or Hindrance?”

The difficulties with large print

My wife is low vision due to her diabetes and her cancer. She loves to relax with a book, but despite special reading glasses and a daylight lamp she can hardly read normal sized print. She loves cozy murder mysteries and period mysteries, and she also loves the Agatha Raisin books. But getting hold ofContinue reading “The difficulties with large print”

But it’s only fanfiction…

That is a sentence I did hear a lot during my high time of fanfiction writing. But is it really only fanfiction? Something to belittle and poke fun at? I don’t think so. My little self, formerly known as Mr-Spock on fanfiction pages, see it as a form of entertainment. Sure, you won’t ever getContinue reading “But it’s only fanfiction…”

The Art – or pain – of editing

Well, I saw that post on Facebook the other day. First it made me smile, then it made me think. I wondered how many times did I actually read my book between jotting down the first notes and the final version the editor eventually handed back to my publisher? I have no idea, but 75Continue reading “The Art – or pain – of editing”

Bravery vs the Absence of fear or how does being supportive work?

So, this week was packed with stuff. Monday I went all the way down to Cardiff and back to get Bob and Von here for the week. Tuesday Cancer centre with my wife, Wednesday and Thursday early shifts in bakery, Friday even earlier and for 9 to Oxford to the dentist with my wife forContinue reading “Bravery vs the Absence of fear or how does being supportive work?”

Murder she thought – The dangers of research

Hello again. After watching yet another episode of “Murder she wrote” (and yes, I’ve been watching that for the past 30+ years, but still love it), I remembered two things. First, that the glasses I choose at age 14 because they looked like Jessica’s made me look ten years older and were not my wisestContinue reading “Murder she thought – The dangers of research”

Be careful – or you’ll end up in my novel

My stepdaughter gave me a notebook for my writing. Lovely dark blue with posh golden lettering on the front, saying “Be careful or you’ll end up in my novel”. Oooookeeeeey. Well, they say write about what you know. Sometimes easier said than done. But thorough research does help with that. But with characters I foundContinue reading “Be careful – or you’ll end up in my novel”