I realise quite a lot has happened since I last posted. My debut novel, You Think You Know Me, came out in paperback on 7th September. Very many thanks are due to Choc Lit for their amazing support and all the promo they organised around the date. I was delighted that the book was picked … Continue reading Did I miss September?
Category: Cambridge
Mystery fiction – selecting a sleuth
I’ve loved crime fiction since I was a child, and wrote about my first encounter with the genre – through Stephen Chance’s Septimus and the Danedyke Mystery – here. The hero of that book is a police-officer-turned-vicar. Over the years I’ve enjoyed mysteries with all sorts of protagonists, from police detectives like Ian Rankin’s Rebus and Donna Leon’s Brunetti, … Continue reading Mystery fiction – selecting a sleuth
A London marathon and a Cambridge mystery
Several exciting things have happened since I last posted. We were in London at the weekend to watch DH romp home in the marathon. We were incredibly lucky to get passes to the grandstands so we had an amazing view. I felt really emotional watching the winners, Paula Radcliffe and of course, my husband, dashing … Continue reading A London marathon and a Cambridge mystery
My first book club… as a guest author!
A side-effect of my first book coming out is that I’ve had to try things I haven’t done before, and I’m sure this is good for me. Although I write about danger and adventure, in reality I’m a risk-averse wimp. So, since my last post, I’ve attended my first ever book club as a guest … Continue reading My first book club… as a guest author!
Writing: getting started once you’ve stalled…
A few weeks back, I put up a jolly post about how I was going to embark on a novella, a sequel to my first novel, You Think You Know Me. I’ve begun a Cambridge-based mystery series since completing my debut. I find the city fascinating; it’s such a place of contrasts. But, having taken a break, I … Continue reading Writing: getting started once you’ve stalled…
Grantchester Meadows
As ever, I’m finding it hard to let go of summer. In the last week, the warmth’s returned to Cambridge, but it’s been overlaid with the signs of autumn. The spiders are everywhere in the garden and I need bike lights if I'm out after 7.30pm. 7.30! What happened? I’m also missing the freewheeling that … Continue reading Grantchester Meadows
Recreating the seasons in fiction
Last winter, whilst missing green willows, dangling their branches in the Cam, and cattle out grazing on the commons, I wrote a story set in Cambridge in summer. It was fun to transport myself to the season of long, lazy days, but of course, I had to remember a lot, to get the atmosphere right. … Continue reading Recreating the seasons in fiction
Writing Inspiration – real life hooks, and the benefits of snooping
I wrote a couple of weeks back about my favourite hooks in fiction, but recently the importance of real-life hooks has come home to me, as triggers for my own story ideas. It’s always the tale part told that fires my imagination – a half heard conversation, a historical story where the full truth has … Continue reading Writing Inspiration – real life hooks, and the benefits of snooping
A Cambridge Summer – crochet, crowds and angle grinders
Summer has hit Cambridge. It seems like only a week since the city was shrouded in cloud and I was wearing gloves to work. Now the streets are thronging with tourists, the buskers are out in force, and you can’t walk five paces without being invited to hire a chauffeur punt. With the fair weather came … Continue reading A Cambridge Summer – crochet, crowds and angle grinders
Settings in Fiction – London and Cambridge
I've been thinking about settings in fiction this week. Two of my favourite locations for novels are London – where I went to University – and Cambridge, where I live and work. At first glance, they appear to be quite different. I love the great, heaving mass of activity that makes up London: the diversity, … Continue reading Settings in Fiction – London and Cambridge
Clare Chase 