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Dark Waters

This book came out in November, but I have not made much of it yet because I didn't want friends and family buying copies before Christmas - it has been a very handy Christmas present!

This is something of a new venture. My first five books were set in and around Winchester, where I live. This book is the first of a new series, set on a fictional Scottish island and, of course, with a completely new cast of characters.

Like all my previous books, there is a political element to this story. Like many people, I am concerned about …

English Conservatives and American Republicans

I wonder if you have noticed how English Conservatives look to US Republicans for their direction? One recent move I have noticed, is that Tories call policies designed to help the less privileged in our society 'socialist'. Really? Are they admitting that one cannot be a Conservative and also mind about what happens to the less fortunate in our country?

A right-wing state?

Several readers have told me that they find the distopian background to my first four books difficult to handle. I suppose I intended that to be the case, although of course I didn't want my books to be so dark that nobody would read them! I wanted - and still want - them to be a warning. I wrote 'Courting Rendition' before we even knew that we would have a vote about Brexit, and nothing that has happened since has made me doubt my instincts. I still believe our country is moving in a very dangerous direction.

So …

Dark books?

I have been told that my books are dark. In a way that is true. The first three, especially, carried an implicit warning: we (as a country) should be careful who we cosy up with.

One friend queried the ending of 'Courting Rendition', claiming that what happens to the narrator would not happen in real life. Well - so how do we explain this:

In Guantanimo Bay there are still something like 40 prisoners. They have had no trials. Any 'confessions' they made, were made under torture.

Let's not be too sure that terrible deials of justice cannot occur in …

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Wouldn't it be nice?

I can't help thinking, as I listen to the news, how wonderful it would have been if, instead of raising money (within the rules or not) to refurbish the Downing Street flat, Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds had instead asked all Conservative supporters to contribute to a fund to build decent flats for those who are currently homeless. Well, we can all dream!

Entering the world of social media!

I am exploring my new website... I've been meaning to do this for years, ever since my first book was published. It is exciting and, for someone who is not very tech savvy, rather frightening!

On Saturday I was interviewed by a journalist who asked me, among other things, whether I found writing hard work. Do I struggle with the blank page in front of me? Do I prevaricate, take the dog for a walk, brouse my Facebook page, rather than settling down to write? The answer is 'no!' - and not just because I haven't got a dog!  …