I WAS really pleased with the review of DEATH SQUAD in the books pages of the ARmy Rumour SErvice website. It said: “Assassins and aristocracy; drugs and debauchery; murder and mayhem; pop stars and the police, all packed into some four hundred pages of action.” “Danny Lancaster is an ex paratrooper who saw service in [...]
Tired but can’t sleep. Restless and fidgeting. Flitting between tasks. Yes, I’ve got a new book out. My third Danny Lancaster crime thriller – Rough Diamond – is published this week as an ebook and paperback. Writing is fun. Launches are nerve-wracking. The book might stagger off the pad on a column of noise and [...]
This fantastic independent review of THE WRECK OF THE MARGHERITA appeared this week on the Crimepieces blogsite. I am really, really chuffed. Review: Bill Todd - The Wreck of the Margherita April 4, 2013 by Sarah Ward The Wreck of the Margherita is by travel journalist Bill Todd who has written a modern tale of [...]
MAN’S best friend is fire, not dogs. My local has just got a wood burner in the garden. Called a chiminea, with its tapering flue it looks like the rusting rocket engine from a V1. And it has magnetic properties. Guys are drawn to it, forming a semi-circle, snapping wood over their knees to feed [...]
Writing is the most fun you can have with someone else’s clothes on but it has a dark side. Pouring words into blank pages, two fingers trying to keep up with ideas, is a fantastic high. When it goes well the sparks are flying, idea builds on idea like bricks, characters write their own dialogue, [...]
The writing week will start about 10am Tuesday, depending on when the coffee’s ready. I already have around 12,000 Danny3 words but no way of knowing where we’ll be at close of play on Friday. I’m hopeful of a productive week. All I do know is that villains will rise, conspiracies will intertwine like snakes, [...]
In the complex mix that makes a novel, names are a vital part. Before a character has shot someone, nicked something or chatted up the love interest, their name sends signals. William suggests authority, a name of kings. Bill is a mate down the pub. Willy is the runt of the litter. Most likely, Amanda’s [...]
Two people dead, one fight, assorted mysterious events and the theft of a bicycle – not a bad week’s work. The first four days’ output for my third Danny Lancaster crime thriller runs to around 8,000 words. Some of them shimmied into line like a rock diva’s backing dancers. With others it was like teasing [...]
OK, I admit, it’s a dump. The walls are stained. Ragged towers of assorted crap are teetering. There’s barely room to move. But it’ll be home for the next few months. I’ve worked in many offices – from rooms over shops to shiny tower blocks with carpets and free coffee – but this is my [...]
Some people travel to enjoy shopping or nightlife. I prefer natural phenomena - deserts, mountains, that sort of thing. One of the highlights of my travel writing was seeing Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights - in Arctic Finland. The effect is caused by a clash of charged particles in the upper atmosphere which paints [...]