Bryant and May
To commemorate the launch of my latest novel, I had Maggie Armitage over for tea to tell me all about why there are people living in her TV set, the drug dealers on the Blackstock Road, mysteriously moving dustbins, the resurrection and what makes her turn off the fridge at night. The threshing machine […]
Every time I sit down to write a novel I come up against the same question; how realistic should I make it? How fantastical? How believable should it be? How mad? How down to earth? I’ve written here before about how so-called ‘gritty’ thrillers and crime procedurals are usually nothing of a kind. We see […]
Seeing as I keep getting friends wishing me happy World Book Day (something I barely knew existed because authors never hear about anything in the publishing world unless it’s really bad news), here’s a list of the books Arthur Bryant is happy promoting on this auspicious occasion. They stand on the shelves behind his desk […]
The London of the first book is different to London now I’ve just started researching the 2020 Bryant & May novel, the final one in the series that I’m currently contracted to write for Random House. I have the basic outline, but will need to research its seven main locations, and intend to start doing […]
In Which Mr May Makes A Mistake And Mr Bryant Goes Into The Dark It’s Bryant & May’s 17th outing, not counting their graphic novel, and their longest novel. We’re in central London just after Christmas, in the present day, where the friendless and lonely are being picked off by a man with a plan. […]
Across 1 Strange Tide 4 Seventy Seven Clocks 5 Off the Rails 7 The Memory of Blood 10 The Invisible Code 12 Ten Second Staircase 13 The Lonely Hour 14 Wild Chamber 15 Londons Glory Down 2 The Victoria Vanishes 3 White Corridor 5 On the Loose 6 The Bleeding Heart 8 The […]
A word from Snowy and me: Time can hang heavy between forcing that last sprout down your neck and the start of the big film. Here is a little diversion to tickle up those remaining brain-cells not completely drowned in gravy. Those who don’t usually feel they can tackle a cryptic crossword should have no […]
Writers who don’t listen to readers are idiots. My delightful editor for the Bryant & May novels is concerned about what readers like, and concentrates of making the covers particularly gorgeous. There’s a hint of modernisation going on in my Bryant & May paperbacks at the moment, with the cleaned-up non-retro typeface – and although […]
(This is the last part of a 3-part article) )Having reached the end of a second arc – that’s two arcs of six books apiece – I once again felt I had peaked. I was especially pleased with ‘The Burning Man’ because it matched the mood of my city. I had got caught up in […]
(Continued from yesterday) If I’d felt the series was going to run out of steam (the publisher’s nightmare, that an author invested in fails to deliver with consistency) I needn’t have worried. By pegging the characters to a more recognisable world I could lightly reflect current events and always have something new to write about. […]
