One element vital to thriller and travel writing is research. Get it wrong and crime fans have no cliff to hang from. Travel enthusiasts might walk off one.
I love maps. They are part work of art, part scientific analysis.
They help you plan walks and outings for travellers or chases that lead your heroes and villains to the dramatic backdrop for their final confrontation.
Maps are also a source of distress to my wife who has just bought industrial shelving and packed my collection into 35 box files.
These contain everything from continents to one-horse towns, battlefields to theme parks, historical, political and specialist – I have maps for cheeses and wines.
I love my satnav and GPS but maps are different. They don’t update, they are a snapshot. They tell you where you are, where grandad fought, what once stood where you home stands now.
Some are technical and so rich in detail you can read them like a book. Others have illustrations like maps of old – Here Be Dragons!
I like the intense lattice grids of American cities and the smooth unbroken ochre of deserts.
Now all I need is some way to navigate around my 35 box files, perhaps some sort of map?
TOUCHING GREATNESS: The Wreck Of The Margherita and Death Squad continue to attract very positive reviews from readers.
One compared my Danny Lancaster stories to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher thrillers. Another said Danny would make a good Guy Ritchie film.
More recent reviews have drawn comparison with Graham Greene and Alistair MacLean.
I am gobsmacked and very very chuffed. Thank you all.
BAGS FOR LIFE: Carrier bags aren’t doing the planet any favours but they can be an essential travel accessory.
The obvious use is to keep wet or leaky items secure from things like clothing, iPads and cameras.
They keep your bum dry on a wet seat and if you knock a hole in the bottom you’ve got a waterproof camera cover for that Kodak moment monsoon shot. Use your second carrier bag as a rain hat.
You can cut them into strips as a strap or bindings and, if your trip doesn’t go to plan, you have an air-tight, waterproof wound dressing.
A friend got caught short in the back of a yellow taxi on the comfort stop-free ride from Manhattan to JFK and was only saved with the help of Sainsburys.
They pack flat, weight nothing and many can be recycled when you’re done with them. Better to give them a bit of adventure than going straight from supermarket to landfill.
STREWTH!: Predictive texting can get you into a lot of trouble. I wrote “Aussies”. It appeared as “sissies”.
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