If I’ve got something to say, I write it and then link to that post: Write Once, Then Link.
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last updated: 12 June 2018
For every book I have written there’s always something special for me as the author. Sometimes I’ve just tried something different and it worked and at other times it can be a character that I feel was realized especially well. Whatever the book, if it’s been published, you can be sure that in addition to me being happy with the story there are some things in there that I will like that you might not notice.
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...continue reading: A Certain Satisfaction
last updated: 12 June 2018
It’s very easy to come up with a situation for a novel. It’s much harder to come up with a story. People often confuse the two and the difference is significant.
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...continue reading: Situation vs Story
last updated: 8 May 2018
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on 19 May 2018. It may seem inopportune to suggest that Miss Markle could become the Queen of England, but once you understand the rules around royal succession, you will see that it is quite possible that an American born non-royal divorcee could become Queen—it just takes one death at a certain time.
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...continue reading: Meghan Markle, Queen of England
last updated: 8 May 2018
I am a British subject and my language is English, but let me suggest a heresy: American English spellings (and grammatical practices) should be preferred over British spellings.
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...continue reading: Spelling: UK vs US
last updated: 10 April 2018
When I was writing Tattoo Your Name on My Heart, I had a need for a minor character—a guitarist who plays in the fictional rock band Prickle. Luca Parzani is that character. In crafting Luca, I took inspiration from real life.
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...continue reading: Needing a Guitarist
last updated: 10 April 2018
I’m going to take a controversial line for someone who makes his living by scribbling down words: Spelling doesn’t matter. At least, it doesn’t matter as much as people make out and it doesn’t matter for the reasons they think it does. What matters is the ability to be understood.
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...continue reading: No One Cares If You Can’t Spell
last updated: 13 February 2018
In 2010, when I first started outlining The Murder of Henry VIII, I had an idea for a 500-year-old conspiracy theory about the murder of Henry VIII. The notion of the Russians trying to influence an election just didn’t seem that much of a stretch. The scenario felt plausible to me. In fact, it wasn’t simply plausible—it was something that I expected to happen (assuming it hadn’t already happened). Events since then suggest that my fiction is quite plausible.
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...continue reading: Interference in Foreign Politics
last updated: 13 February 2018
John le Carré’s 1974 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was adapted to be a movie and tv miniseries. Seek out all three.
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...continue reading: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
last updated: 9 January 2018
From time to time I get questions about bad language in my books. There are variants on this question, but it mostly boils down to: will I be offended by something in one of your books, Simon? In short, maybe, but I hope not. Or at least, I hope you will agree that any offense reflects what the character feels and is justified within the context.
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...continue reading: Causing Offense
last updated: 14 November 2017
I’ve been watching Comrade Detective. It’s fun…at least the idea is amusing, but I’m not sure it quite sustains over the full series.
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...continue reading: Comrade Detective
last updated: 10 October 2017
Long before I wrote the first Leathan Wilkey book—literally years before I wrote the book—I had the notion of a character who was later christened Leathan. I had an idea of someone who was very human. A man who connected with people on a very human level. But a man, for whom life was difficult because of his specific circumstances.
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...continue reading: Developing Leathan Wilkey
last updated: 11 July 2017
On the face of it, Sexy Beast is a gangster movie. In truth, it’s a love story. Sure, there are all the elements of a British gangster movie, a retired criminal living in Spain who is drawn back for one last job—a safe deposit vault heist. But dig deeper to the heart of the film and there is a love story. Gal Dove loves his wife Deedee, and is only forced back to take the job to protect Deedee.
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...continue reading: Sexy Beast
last updated: 11 July 2017
In Pollute the Poor Boniface plays Sylvia, a tune from 1972 by the Dutch prog rock band Focus. The track is an instrumental with a strong, quite joyful melody, but there’s a mournful undercurrent. It’s one of those tunes that speaks without using words—and, of course, since there are no words, you can imprint your own interpretation.
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last updated: 13 June 2017
I was asked the question: Do you wear anything when you’re writing? The question was less about whether I wear clothes, or otherwise, and more about whether I wear anything in particular.
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...continue reading: Do You Wear Anything?
last updated: 13 June 2017
Did you know that leather floors are a thing? Instead of carpets, tiles, or wood to cover the floor, you can have leather. Yeah, I didn’t know either.
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...continue reading: Leather Floors
last updated: 13 June 2017
If you’ve ever wondered about the order of the Leathan Wilkey series of novels…
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...continue reading: The Leathan Series: Order of Reading/Writing
last updated: 9 May 2017
If you haven’t watched BrainDead, can I suggest you do: it’s hugely entertaining.
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...continue reading: BrainDead
last updated: 9 May 2017
I set my second series—the Leathan Wilkey series—in Paris. I knew I wanted to set the books in a different city, I just wasn’t sure which city. All I really knew was that Leathan wasn’t going to be in London. And much of the reason for this choice is that, despite the many similarities, Paris is very different to London.
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...continue reading: Why Paris
last updated: 11 April 2017
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow is a great book. If you haven’t read it, fix that and read it now.
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...continue reading: The Power of the Dog
last updated: 14 March 2017
It’s approaching ten years since then nearly-four-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared while on a family holiday. Yet somehow, despite there being so few facts—or maybe because there are so few facts—ten years after she was last seen, the disappearance of Madeleine is perhaps the mystery of our time.
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