Thanks to Shooting Star Press, my novel Sovereign Assassin is on sale at 99c/99p on Amazon in the US/UK until the 26th May. It’s a darkly satirical thriller about an assassin whose sovereign immunity leads to her own reality tv show as she prepares for her next kill. “A thrilling, fast-paced book which is run... Continue Reading →
New Anthology Contribution
On the first of January this year, a fellow writer posted to the Australian Speculative Fiction Group’s Facebook page about a sequel charity anthology. The original anthology released last year and raised funds to help Ukraine rebuild after what was anticipated to be a short war. The new anthology had an alternative history/speculative theme of... Continue Reading →
Gold Medal for Sovereign Assassin and Other News.
I am thrilled to announce that Sovereign Assassin has been recognised again; this time in this year's Global Book Awards. It won a gold medal https://globalbookawards4.spread.name/?filter=Category-%3ASatire. I can now add a second medal to the cover (see above)! I also have some new interviews on my interview page. One celebrates the imminent release of the... Continue Reading →
Preorder New Release: Colours of Death 2
I am delighted to announce that a follow up to Colours of Death: Sergeant Thomas' Casebook will be released later this year. The new collection, Colours of Death 2: Sergeant Thomas: Further Casefiles will be released on December 1st, 2022. Here are the details for the nine stories in the anthology:Red: Poison FireA horrific death... Continue Reading →
The Bubishi
The Bubishi is sometimes referred to as the bible of karate. Such a moniker is misleading as it is not a religious text. What it is is a comprehensive manual designed for students of the martial arts. I emphasise this point because it is quite esoteric in its nature and requires interpretation to get the... Continue Reading →
How to get away with attacking enemies via your fiction.
Michael Crichton is known as the author of many novels, including titles such as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Disclosure and Sphere. He was also active in film (eg: Westworld, Coma) and television (E.R.). He was medically trained and his books often reflect his scientific background. A contemporary of his, Robin Cook was also a... Continue Reading →
Unfinished Novels
In the past I've written about entire novels being lost or buried for centuries, but today I'm going to write about novels that were partially finished when their author died. People have been waiting 11 years for The Winds of Winter (by George R.R. Martin), and my wife has been waiting 20 years for the... Continue Reading →
Oh my Lord
Jeffrey Archer didn't start out as a novelist. His first calling/passion is politics. Along his journey he has done some fundraising for various charities for which he was made 'Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare' and gaining the title 'Lord Archer'. So what drew this Lord to start writing novels? It was a burden of necessity. In... Continue Reading →
1984: The book that borders on prophecy. So why did the author change the ending?
Nineteen Eighty-Four or 1984 as it is also known, is one of the most famous books ever published. It has inspired countless imitations, cultural touchstones, and introduced language which has become part of our everyday speech such as 'Big Brother', 'Thought Police' and 'Doublethink'. It is even one of those rare books which is deemed... Continue Reading →
An unbelievable true story…
Helen Demidenko caused a stir in literary circles in the mid 1990s. I remember at the time wondering why there was such a fuss? After all, the crime she was accused of was that she had made up her family history (and surname) in order to promote her novel, The Hand that Signed the Paper;... Continue Reading →
Robert New 