It’s time for another Friday Reads blog and this week my featured book is the gripping crime mystery, Murder on the Clyde by top crime author, Daniel Sellers. Isn’t the cover striking? Daniel is going to tell us a bit about the book, and his writing life, so grab yourself a cuppa, get cosy and let’s get chatting. 😊

BLURB:

Detective Lola Harris is heading back over the river from a rare night out when she spots a crowd of people looking over the parapet. Someone’s gone in.

A young man called Cammy witnessed everything. He swears it’s the work of the Clyde Pusher, but is terrified of the police.

The Clyde Pusher is the stuff of urban legend. A hooded figure who throws men into the river to drown. Eight victims in five years.

But according to the police, the Pusher doesn’t exist. There are no reliable witnesses, nothing to link the victims.

Lola starts looking into the case unofficially but gets a rap on the knuckles from her higher-ups for nosing around.

Someone is trying to derail the investigation. What are they trying to cover up?

Because the Pusher is real. And he has Cammy in his sights . . .

Buy Link

Amazon

Welcome to my blog, Daniel. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Since I read my first Famous Five story, when I must have been six or seven years old. I remember the thrill and horror when the shipwreck rose from the seabed in the storm and settled, groaning on the beach on Kirrin Island. I wanted to tell stories that made other readers shiver and shake — and be compelled to read on!

I loved the Famous Five, and the Secret Seven stories!

Has any author inspired you?

Enid Blyton was my ‘gateway drug’ into reading crime fiction. Then I fell big time for Agatha Christie, who’s remained the love of my reading life. I read most of her novels by the age of fifteen. I wrote my first story, Murder at 3,000 Feet, and handed it in as a GCSE assignment around that age too. It was about a murder on an airship travelling from Vienna to Berlin in the 1930s and it was extremely clever and exciting. At least I thought it was.

Yep, both favourite authors of mine! Your story sounds exciting. Do you still have it?😊

What do you like writing most?

I love writing argy-bargy: people having a really good row where they both have a principled and opposing stand, and hopefully are very upset too! It’s important to understand the emotional stress each character is feeling, then I let rip. These scenes are a joy to write and readers seem to enjoy them.

We all love a bit of drama! Are you a pantster or a plotter?

I’m somewhere in the middle. I have a solid outline of about 2,000 words that I agree with my editor and agent. This sets out the arc of the story, the inciting incident, the midpoint, the all-is-lost moment and, crucially, how things will wrap up. I usually know whodunnit but not in my third book, when I changed my mind halfway through. I then plan the first 10,000 words in detail and spend about a month drafting that. Once I’m happy with that section, I just keep going, heading for the all-important midpoint, but making it up as I go along.

That sounds a good working plan. What are you writing at the moment?

I’m working hard on the fifth Lola Harris mystery while editing the fourth, which is due out this autumn. I’m also developing the second book in a new series set in West Yorkshire in the 1990s. Oh, and I’m playing about with a “Golden Age” detective story. I have too many ideas and am constantly scribbling notes.

What time of the day do you write best?

Late morning and early afternoon, then again mid-evening. I’m writing this at 8.20 pm in my shed.

What advice would you give to other writers?

Read novels in your chosen genre, not just the ones that hit the bestseller lists, though it’s good to be familiar with what’s selling really well. Read the best books about the craft, too, including Paula Munier’s book about beginnings and Kira-Ann Pelican’s book about using psychology to create rich characters. Oh, and anything by Sol Stein about writing and editing fiction; the man was a genius and very genial too. Keep going but take rejections seriously and try to learn and improve all the time. (PS. you never stop learning.)

Great advice, Daniel. Thank you for talking to us today. Wishing you lots more writing success.

Meet Daniel

Daniel Sellers was born in Yorkshire and now lives in the West of Scotland. He writes the Glasgow-based Lola Harris series of mysteries (Joffe Books).

Contact Daniel

Website: www.danielsellers.co.uk

Twitter/X: @DJSellersAuthor

Instagram: @danielsellersauthor