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My writing |
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Why are we so fascinated by crime? Whether in popular fiction, the movies or on TV we just dont seem to be able to get enough of it .... Most of the ingredients of a good crime novel can be found in other genres - strong characters, intriguing plots, interesting places, good writing so there has to be something else. Maybe, it puts us in touch with our dark side and gives us an opportunity to flirt with danger without any risk. Maybe, it makes us feel better about ourselves there but for ? Maybe, it's because the "good guys" usually come out on top; albeit a bit battered, and carrying a few more scars. Maybe, its the challenge of the puzzle can I work it out before the detectives? Is the author really letting me work this one out or is he/she just playing with me? .... For me, it's a bit of all of these things. I have always enjoyed reading mystery and adventure ever since I first discovered Enid Blyton's 'The Secret Seven'. As a teenager I read Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton Then later, Frederick Forsyth, Paul Edmann, Robert Ludlum, John Grisham, Colin Dexter, Val McDermid and many more ... not forgetting of course my all time favourite crime writer Ian Rankin. I don't know really why I started writing - when I was young I wrote poetry and short stories, although I never had the confidence to show them to anyone - and I'm not conscious that it was ever an ambition. But, circumstances and fate conspired and like so many things in my life it just happened. I had an idea while I was lying on a beach in Spain, I was between contracts, and I thought why not give it a try? Three years later I finished The Puppet Master, which was published in January 2008. A second Mike Barton story, 'Lying to God', is well underway, and several more are planned. I am also writing short stories, a children's story and playing with poetry To find out more click on any of these links The Puppet Master Lying To God (preview) Where to buy The Puppet Master
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