Books and Biscuits

  I’ve been knitting squares. It started as a learning exercise more than anything else, just getting used to the rhythm of it, the feel of the needles, the small discipline of finishing something properly. At first it was uneven, a bit tentative. Then, somewhere along the way, it settled into something fairly neat and even... I’ve mostly been working with what I have: creams, a few greens, the occasional pink. I do have a rather severe purple, but I’ve decided against it. It feels too declarative. I’m more interested in something like damson which is quieter, and with a bit more depth. I don’t have the right one yet, but that seems part of the process as well: waiting until something actually fits, rather than filling the space for the sake of it. It made me think, in a very loose way, about local making, how people have always produced things where they are, often without much fuss or announcement. There was a local maker, Mary Walker, whose work still gets mentioned. I don’t kno...

The  Green Knowe  books have such a distinctive atmosphere. The old house sits at the centre of everything, and time there never feels fixed. Instead of dramatic time travel, the past seems to slip quietly into the present. In  The Children of Green Knowe , when Tolly stays with his grandmother, he encounters the children who lived there centuries earlier; Toby, Alexander and Linnet: as if the house itself allows different periods to overlap. In  The River at Green Knowe , Tolly experiences the house in the Middle Ages in the same gentle way. There’s no explanation or mechanism; the house simply seems to hold those earlier lives within it. That sense of time folding softly back on itself gives the stories their quiet enchantment. Inspired by Hemingford Grey Manor where the author lived, the house feels ancient, calm and full of memory; a place where the garden, river and rooms all carry traces of the past. It’s the kind of atmosphere that stays with readers for decad...

Good News Wednesday: I’ve had a really positive message from a client, that another contact has offered to help move a joint project forward. Encouraging momentum on both fronts.

I’m finding January a little draining. I don’t feel especially full of ideas, and I’m trying to let that be okay. I keep thinking we’re pressured to treat January like a 'new chapter,' but sometimes it’s just a continuation of tiredness  only with colder weather and higher expectations. For now I’m focusing on small comforts and steadier rhythms, rather than goals. If you’re feeling like this too, you’re not alone.

 

I would like to share a brief glimpse of what lies ahead in my current mystery cycle, which will ultimately be brought together as a five-book box set. The Leiston Riddle – coming by summer ’26. This novel continues my interest in communities shaped as much by what they withhold as by what they reveal. It will be a story rooted in place, memory, and the unsettling persistence of unanswered questions hopefully fitting reading for a season traditionally associated with renewal and reckoning. The Middleton Mystery – completing the five book box set The Middleton Mystery  will round out the cycle and complete the five-book box set. This concluding story is intended to draw together the thematic and narrative strands that have been quietly accumulating across the series – offering resolution without neatness, and answers that arrive with their own costs. Taken together, these books form a loose but deliberate arc: stories connected by place, by moral pressure, and by the slow ...

It’s strange what stays with you. Not the noise but the faces – the way the air felt afterwards, brittle and off key. ‘They have taken my phone!’ she gasped. And sure enough two youngsters scampered off, booty in hand, leaping from the bus and into the crowd. For a moment I sat there wondering if I should offer her a banana – the only thing I had to hand – before realising it had gone soft and slightly rotten in the day’s heat. It was an absurd, although somehow easier to manage than the look on her face. She had two children with her, both wide-eyed and yet she was the first to recover ‘It’s alright,’ she said briskly ‘It was my work phone – I have another.’ The words were too tidy somehow, rehearsed even. For a moment I wondered if the whole thing was real, or some small performance staged for the inevitable audience – the kind of trick that only makes sense to an insurance firm. There was a touch of theatre about it all – as if she had played the scene before. Somewhere out in gangl...

  Legends, saints as well as forgotten communities who shape the land abound in The Iken Icon. Their presence lingers like ghostly whispers... The soil, the water and the ruins reveal fragments of the past like clues left by an unreliable narrator, thus commences the journey I am taking with the Iken Icon. The sequel,  The Iken Icon , is beginning to take shape. I’m not ready to reveal too much yet – the story will decide what it wants to be told – but I can say this: Iken itself will be more than a backdrop. With its ancient church and its long memory, the land feels like a character waiting to speak and something I haven’t really tried to do as I am an urban writer at heart. This is only the beginning of the journey. As the writing unfolds, I’ll share more here – about the challenges, the surprises, and what I discover as I progress.

A good clue might seem minor or unrelated at first, but later, when the twist is revealed, it becomes  obviously significant . Example : A dog that didn’t bark during a break-in later reveals the intruder was someone known to it. The best clues aren’t hidden, they’re right there,   buried among distractions  or filtered through character assumptions. T echnique : Use red herrings or multiple interpretations to mask the true meaning. The clue should emerge naturally from character behaviour or choices and not be dropped in arbitrarily. Example : A suspect unconsciously straightening a crooked picture frame may link them to a ransacked room later. Make clues reflect the larger emotional truth or moral question of the story. Example : A discarded child’s toy at the crime scene isn’t just a clue, it hints at the victim’s broken home life. No clue should exist in isolation. It should tie into at least one other clue, forming a web that readers can eventually untangle. What Fee...

Recently someone recommended  'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine'. When it came out a good friend suggested it and most likely I will now make time to read it. Another book that came up via FB caught my eye which is 'The Language of Blooming Things'. I even put an Oprah Winfrey pick in my eBay shopping basket - at a bargain price - 'The Emperor of Gladness' by Ocean Vuong. Most of these are hidden gems I think - possibly not the first - I think it was quite well received at the time and a lot of people know about it. The image is of Anna Sewell's house - or maybe it is somewhere she stayed in Great Yarmouth - I am quite fond of Great Yarmouth - it is fairly maligned but still has a lot to recommend it - easy to find your way around, lots of charming old houses in varying states of delapidation, completely unpretentious - 'bouji' is not a thing there in case you were wondering.

When I began planning 'The Leiston Riddle', one of the first decisions I made was about where the murder would take place. Not just any backdrop would do. I needed a setting with atmosphere, history, and the kind of quiet menace that makes a murder mystery truly unsettling. That’s when Suffolk called to me. Suffolk, with its windswept coastline, sprawling heathlands and close-knit villages, offers a unique blend of beauty and isolation. It’s a place where the mist hangs low over the fields in early morning, where narrow lanes twist through centuries-old parishes, and where everyone knows each other—or at least thinks they do. That kind of landscape creates the perfect breeding ground for secrets. There’s a certain timelessness in Suffolk. You can stand on the edge of a crumbling cliff or inside a church that’s stood since the Middle Ages and feel history pressing in. It makes you wonder: what stories have these walls heard? What might still be buried—both literally and metaphor...

I am pleasantly surprised to have finished - a first draft at least of 'The Leiston Riddle' well in advance of the publication date I have set at the end of the year. Yes it could do with a good editor - of course! Terry (Doggett's old pal from the sailing club) remains a key figure who will keep Jake (the girl in the caff's bf) grounded. While Jake starts unraveling the truth behind the murder, Terry’s warning will be the touchstone that keeps him from veering into reckless action or getting swallowed by the weight of the town’s expectations. Terry knows the town’s dark undercurrents, but he’s also deeply aware of the limitations of fighting against them. The question for Jake becomes: will he find a way to act on this knowledge, or will he be consumed by it? As for Maggie (the girl in the caff), knowing that the murder will be resolved by the police — and that she doesn’t need to involve herself further — allows her to focus on her own journey as well. The backdrop of...

‘Oh my GOD — why us!!!’ Shirley looked back towards the caff — only ten minutes ago they had been purchasing a take away drink as if they were care free holiday makers who had left the stresses and strains of working life well behind them. It was unmistakable though, the girl was staring straight back at her, standing at the plate windows which promised a delightful view of the unspoilt nature about from the cosy comfort of a well-run hostelry. Shirley forced herself to hold her gaze — was this really an attempt to intimidate her? Get back on your bikes — there was a small voice — not her own — she realised. She suddenly and instinctively reached to embrace Mike.  ‘Come on love, we need to get a little bit closer, maybe we are just imagining this — you know old age is starting to to play havoc with my eye sight too!’ Mike said nothing — but she felt him grip her hand tighter. ‘In for a penny in for a pound eh?!’ ‘Something like that. You know what, that girl in the caff is staring ...

Down near the power station - near the beach - was an old pub, not so amusingly named after a science fiction movie. Someone somewhere must have decided that there would be an above number of these sorts of aficionados hanging about after a mug of char at Sizewell Tea in need of something stronger than a lukewarm brew could provide. It was only a short hop to Leiston and the dreary wind-swept decay of a typical British seaside town which necessitated liquid refreshment especially after taking in the wonder of the imposing reactor staring sternly from the beach onto the grey North Sea.

Maggie and Jake are two teens who inadvertently become involved with a murder investigation headed up by DCI Mike Doggett. Unveiling Maggie’s connection to the gang (who orchestrated the murder) will open up several intriguing avenues for plot development. Here’s my strategy to explore this revelation in the chapters I am working on at the moment. It is a slow business – writing a novel – although I understand some dash them off. Lucky people! Maggie’s Backstory : I will begin by delving into Maggie’s backstory to explain how and why she became involved with the gang. This will include her motivations (financial need, emotional vulnerability, peer pressure, seeking protection – to name just a few examples) and the initial circumstances of her involvement. Internal Conflict : I will highlight Maggie’s internal struggle. She is regretful, fearful and even feeling a sense of loyalty to the gang at times. This conflict will drive her actions and decisions moving forward. Interaction with K...

I began writing crime fiction in the first instance using the name of Ellis Johnson (there is another L. S. Johnson out there, in California). This includes my ongoing DCI Doggett series – kicking off with ‘The Sizewell Murders’ (where a rotating cast of criminals, set in sleepy Suffolk, confront murder most foul against the backdrop of the construction of a new nuclear power facility in the area). I was initially approached by an alternative fiction fan who wanted to develop his publishing company (using my writing) and then branched into doing my own imprint, encouraged by the positive reception my first book received. As of December 2024 'Case Closed Monday' has sold well over a thousand copies, all digital, via Amazon. I consider myself a professional novelist. In ‘The Sizewell Murders’ I redefine the crime genre for the 21st century taking all the well-worn but much-loved tropes fans will recognise and giving them a new spin that update the time-honoured staples of the gen...

My advice as a writer to anyone who is finding the current situation unduly perplexing/perturbing would be:   Don’t alienate people.  Be humble: You may think YOU have something to say, but give all credit to the muse whatever ever or whoever you consider it to be!  Globalisation could be supposed to be a facet of internationalism, which was always much lauded by the left – I think Tony Blair once memorably proclaimed ‘We have failed to sell (communicate?) the benefits of globalisation.’ What I am trying to say is that globalisation is a recently coined word which describes a phenomena that anyone would be stumped to come to a consensus as to what exactly it is. I fear this proclamation sums it up and could very well explain the success (electorally anyway) of the current administration in The States, as when all is said and done most people need jobs. Very few people are fortunate to call their time their own.

Clinicality Press is proud to announce the arrival of the debut novel from Ellis Johnson. ‘Peep Book’ takes Michael Powell’s infamous movie about voyeurism and retells it through a digital lens. A tale of dark psychopathy in the age of social media, it’s a classic postmodernist work, an exercise in retelling and social commentary that still resonates with the greater depths of human interaction. Witty and accessible, it’s a killer read.