Writing a Novel

I have been writing stories most of my life and have completed several; some of which I have published on Amazon.

It is a very different thing to work with other people. They notice the little mistakes that have slipped past you, and you find that you are discussing aspects of your work from the viewpoint of someone else. I am lucky to have a group of avid readers who will proof read for me.

When I write a story, I have a general outline of the plot; the situation and the way it finishes (approximately). But the main thing that makes a story, is the characters and how they speak. When I have created a character he seems to put words into my mouth. If he (or she) is a real character, they dictate the way they behave, even though you had planned for them to do something different. After a while, they almost write the book for you.

I hope that if my characters are real to me, then they’ll be real to my readers.

One of the practical problems that face all writers, is to stretch the story out to cover the full length of the book; maybe 100,000+ words. Most stories can be told in 10,000 to 20,000 words, some less, but the story must be told in small doses. In a film you see a vast amount in a matter of seconds, visually, but in a book, this information must be told in language that gives the full feeling of the situation. In a book, you can afford to take your time to give the full atmosphere of the scene. The writer must fight the desire to rush on to the next point in the story. This builds suspense.

Further books

When I reached the end of ‘Broken Helix’ I left it slightly open-ended so that I could continue the story in another book. This was ‘Where There’s Life…’, a look at artificial intelligence and whether it can be the same as our own intelligence and awareness. The third book in the series is ‘Monkey Puzzle’, and the fourth, a climate based thriller, is ‘Ill Wind’. A further book is awaiting publication. This is called ‘Net Zero’. There will be more to follow.

A new historical novel is now available, called ‘Brother Unbeliever’ or Murder at Jervaulx Abbey’. You can buy this in paperback or Kindle from Amazon.

A new Alan Westbrook adventure is now available. ‘Set In Stone’ is available from Amazon.

Book signings

Previous book signings

W H Smith, Trafford Centre, Manchester, noon Sun 10th Feb 2019

Waterstones, Harrogate, 11.00 am Sat 23rd February 2019

It was nice to meet so many of my readers.