Welcome to this week's #TuesdayTip. A few weeks ago, (tuesdaytips190.html) I announced my newest book, The Aftermath, which I am self-publishing - a first for me. I promised to take you with me on this new and exciting journey. Last week we looked at the allure of the suburban domestic thriller. This week, I want to ponder the pros and cons of writing under a different pseudonym.
I'm not a publishing expert - far from it - but I have learned a lot over the past few months. If you have any suggestions or thoughts though, please feel free to comment here or on social media.
Much of what I have learned came from the brilliant resources available through the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). Joining them was well worth the relatively modest subscription fee (which is tax deductible in the UK) (https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/). Many of the indie authors I've spoken to over the years swear by them.
Should I change my name?
This was a question that I recently found myself pondering. My new book, The Aftermath, is something of a change of direction - a standalone domestic thriller, rather than a series of police procedurals. My previous DCI Warren Jones books were written under my real name, Paul Gitsham. Back in 2014, as I was considering publishing, I had to decide if I wanted to use this or a pen name.
As a school teacher, especially one with a slightly unusual name, I have to consider my public image. Pupils (and parents!) are pretty shameless these days about googling teachers, looking for gossip and therefore, just as in years gone by the local science teacher rolling drunkenly down the high street or openly conducting an affair may have attracted angry correspondence to the school's governing body, these days one's social media profile or other public activities can still garner negative attention.
And so I had to decide if the content of my books might attract similar opprobrium from 'concerned' parents.
In the end, I decided to peruse the shelves of the school library. I saw immediately that they carried copies of several adult Andy McNab thrillers. Those who have read the adult-aimed stories from the former-SAS operative will know that those books are told in the first person, with liberal use of colourful, often foul language, extreme violence and even occasional sexual content. Knowing that my Warren Jones novels are very tame by comparison, I decided that it would be hypocritical to castigate me, whilst stocking those books and other classics. Mercifully, we live in a country that doesn't wilfully ignore freedom of speech and ban books because a few vocal parents want to cause trouble (yes Florida, I'm looking at you).
Now I am faced with a slightly different dilemma. Whilst The Aftermath is very much a crime novel, after 13 Warren Jones police procedurals (plus some free short stories - Link), readers have come to expect a certain type of book. The concern, voiced by a colleague at a recent talk, is that if you don't make it clear that your new book is different to the old ones, then you run the risk of disappointing existing readers. So, should I change my name?
I am rather attached to my name. Gitsham appears fairly early in the alphabet, so readers looking for a new author are less likely to get bored and stop hunting alphabetical shelves. Furthermore, it's pretty unusual. At the time of writing, nobody with my surname is writing crime fiction. (It still stings slightly when I search certain bookshop websites and the search engine helpfully asks 'Do you mean Grisham?'!) But maybe I could change my first name or use initials?
Paul C. Gitsham was a strong contender - good enough for Iain / Iain M. Banks - he uses his initial to distinguish between his speculative fiction and literary fiction. PC Gitsham was a non-starter - I'm not a police officer and it would be disrespectful to those many former coppers writing really good crime fiction.
But is it worth it?
Reasons in favour of a name change.

• As mentioned above, a minor change such as initials can single a change in genre.
• A completely new name can allow you to write something entirely different without being burdened by reader expectations. (A surprising number of middle-aged, male authors write erotic fiction aimed at the female market alongside their thrillers or other genre fiction - a more female/ambiguous name tends to help sales…)
• A completely new name can let you relaunch your author brand. I know a few writers who have decided to do this.
• Hiding one's gender by ambiguous initials/gender-neutral names. JK Rowling (first name Joanne, no initial) has done this twice. Once for Harry Potter and later writing the Cormoran Strike private eye novels as Robert Galbraith. Some male authors use initials, since the majority of readers are female. Some female authors do the same because it is believed that some men won't pick up a book by a woman.

Reasons against a name change.

• You can lose existing readers who don't realise that you have written something different (this can be mitigated somewhat by a minor initials change).
• I'm told that some big retailers (*cough* Amazon *cough*) don't always link the two author names together properly. I already have issues where some readers of my Warren Jones novels don't realise that there are also four shorter novellas, after Amazon stopped cross-promoting them, so why risk it?
• You may dilute your author brand. The hope is that readers who enjoy Warren Jones will be willing to try something new from me. Hopefully, at least some readers will pick up a copy based on my name, not just my character's name.

Ultimately, I have spoken to friends and decided against a name change. At most, I am switching sub-genres, not genres. Furthermore, many big-name authors happily publish multiple series alongside standalones all under the same name. The cover for The Aftermath is very different to the Warren Jones novels, and it is tag-lined 'From the Creator of DCI Warren Jones'. The fact that it is mentioned regularly on all marketing that it is a standalone, should hopefully stop anyone claiming it was miss-sold as a Warren Jones.
What are your thoughts? Are multiple pen names a useful thing, or is it better to stick with one name? As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Tip. This time, I want to talk about seeking new audiences.
One of the pleasures of writing a long-running series is that you get to know what your readers want. Fans of my DCI Warren Jones series are looking for detailed police procedurals with lots of twists. My books have moderate profanity (exclusively in dialogue, not in the narration), not too much gore and much of the violence takes place off the page. There are limited references to sex and some dry humour.
But, the downside is that it can sometimes restrict the stories I tell. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Many very successful series have avid followers who enjoy the fact that they know exactly what they are getting. That doesn't mean a lack of creativity, or a formulaic approach to writing - nobody could accuse authors such as Michael Connelly of such things. His two main series, Harry Bosch and Micky Haller, give readers exactly what they want, but each book goes from strength to strength, with inventive and innovative plot lines and stories.
But sometimes writers want to expand the scope of their writing and do something a bit different.
From a purely commercial point of view, writing new books in a different style can bring in different readers, who may then seek out the author's other work. Not all your current readers will find the new series to their taste, but done well it can be a tremendous benefit. I imagine that if one were to draw a Venn diagram of the readership of the Harry Bosch series and the Micky Haller series, there would be a significant overlap of readers who enjoy both (like me), some additional readers who adore legal thrillers and skip the Harry books, as well as some who stick with the police-based Harry books. Of course, Connelly has cleverly intertwined the two characters in recent years to capitalise on both readerships (and really delight fans of both series!).
The same arguments can be made for the decision to write standalone thrillers alongside series. An increasing number of authors of popular series are also stretching their wings with standalones. Steve Cavanagh, writer of the Eddie Flynn legal thrillers, is an excellent example. In addition to that ongoing series, he also has some very popular non-legal thrillers. I reviewed Kill For Me Kill For You in my #RecommendedRead blog.
So What Should You Consider?
A new series in a similar genre with different characters:
Liz Mistry has two series set in the police procedural genre. Her DI Gus McGuire series features a male protagonist, whilst her DS Nikki Parekh series features a female detective of Asian heritage. Both involve the structure of the police procedure, but have very different characters and a different 'feel' to them. I look forward to seeing what she does with her upcoming Solanki and McQueen series, the first of which, The Blood Promise, is due out in May.
Write in an entirely different sub-genre.
Leigh Russell writes the extremely popular Geraldine Steel series of police procedurals. Now numbering over 20 entries, plus related spin-offs from one of the secondary characters, the books are well-grounded, 'traditional' police series. However, she has also branched out into 'cosy crime' with her Poppy series, featuring Emily and her pet dog, Poppy. On the face of it, these target two very different sets of readers, but in practise crime readers are an open-minded bunch who are very loyal to authors and many existing fans of Russell will doubtless try the Poppy series, whilst fans of cosies (or dog-lovers) may try these and decide to give the Geraldine Steel series a go as well.
Use the opportunity to change your voice.
We are accustomed to writers having a particular 'voice'. But that voice, whilst reflective of the author's personality, is often only a glimpse of the person behind the words. Perhaps a new series or a standalone is an opportunity to write in a different way? Maybe you fancy exploring characters that are less serious, or want to inject more humour into the narrative? Or switch from dry humour to more overt or even farcical prose? I once had a review that complained that having laughed out loud at my acknowledgments, the reader was disappointed that my DCI Warren Jones books weren't a laugh-a-page comedies. A harsh criticism perhaps, but I know that when I write short stories as an exercise, they almost always end with a punchline and a gag. Two sides of my personality, I guess.
Similarly, you may have an urge to write books that are more/less violent. Perhaps you have an idea for a character that demonstrates a creative and innovative use of profanity that would shock your usual readership? And then there's sex. Feedback on a draft of one of my earliest Warren Jones novels included the suggestion that I cut a sexually explicit scene. It wasn't titillating (quite the opposite) but it felt out of place and may even offend some of my existing readers. It was a good suggestion, and I duly removed it. Perhaps different books might explore sexuality differently?
What do you think about writers seeking new readers through doing something a bit different? Have you any recommendations for authors that have reinvented themselves?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

This week's Tuesday Tip looks at the thorny issue of conspiracy theories and the potential pitfalls of including them in a novel.
For the purpose of clarity, I'm talking about real-life conspiracy theories, such as Paul McCartney dying in a car crash and being replaced by a body double, rather than a fictional conspiracy within a story, such as several characters plotting to kill another.
It sometimes seems that we live in a society that is increasingly in thrall to ever-more outlandish conspiracies. This is not a new phenomenon of course; the numerous theories surrounding the shooting of JFK, and debate over whether the moon landings were real (spoiler: they blatantly are) date back to the 60s and there were no shortage of other strange theories before then. But social media (and I suspect pandemic-induced boredom) seem to have massively amplified the discourse around even the most outlandish claims.
A few months ago, our regular pub quiz even featured a novelty round about conspiracy theories. Much to the surprise of my teammates, I managed to get 13/14 questions correct, on topics ranging from Avril Lavigne being replaced by a body-double, QAnon, Chemtrails and the Pizzagate scandal (a particular favourite of mine, concerning claims that there is a paedophile/cannibalism ring being run out of the basement of a Washington DC pizzeria, attended by Hilary and Bill Clinton - the fact that the restaurant in question doesn't have a basement hasn't dissuaded radical Trump supporters from sharing and amplifying the story).
For those interested, I lost the final mark when I couldn't remember the name of the unproven (and rather toxic) alternative treatment for Covid (Ivermectin).
To dispel any doubt, I should make it absolutely clear that I don't believe ANY of these theories, I just spend more time in the madder corners of Facebook than is perhaps healthy.
In an amusing twist, there is a conspiracy theory that the more outlandish conspiracy theories are being propagated by hostile states such as Russia to sow division and influence elections. Ironically, I find that particular theory far more persuasive than nonsense such as Covid was a hoax, that 5G masts cause cancer and that autism is a result of 'vaccine injury'.
Of course these crazy theories have fantastic story-potential. Dan Brown has made a tidy sum merging genuine historical fact with fictional theories in his Robert Langdon thrillers, most notably The Da Vinci Code.
But there are pitfalls that you need to consider.

• Most obviously, you run the risk of validating and amplifying these theories, many of which are harmful. The surge in preventable, serious childhood illnesses due to misinformation about vaccines is one such example.
• The topics are very divisive. You could argue that having people arguing about your books is likely to boost sales. But at what cost?
• Your Amazon ratings might take a hit. People who disagree with the way you have treated their favourite pet theory may take revenge by means of a 1 star rating. The more organised may even summon like-minded conspiracists to join them. Of course this isn't a phenomenon limited to conspiracy theories. My fifth DCI Warren Jones novel, Forgive Me Father, which involves abuse centred around the Catholic church, has a lower average rating and more 1 and 2 star ratings than most of the rest in the series. The first written review appeared within hours of the book becoming available (far quicker than anyone could have realistically read it) and objected strenuously to the book's theme. I strongly refute the characterisation "Catholic-bashing posing as literature" - I have never written literature in my life!
• "Interesting" correspondence. Years ago, letters from those with a somewhat tenuous grasp on reality could be immediately identified by the writer's use of a green felt tip pen. These days, emails, direct messages on social media, and Amazon reviews are sometimes (but not always) written in ALL CAPS.

Of course, none of this should dissuade you from writing the story that you want to write. Self-censorship is sometimes the worst form of censorship. But forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
Alternatively, you can always embrace the controversy and turn it to your advantage. Judging by the numbers of members on some of the more extreme Facebook groups, a novel that provokes discussion amongst folks who believe that the 2020 US election was stolen because Donald Trump was about to expose a plot to use chemtrails from aircraft to seed mind-altering substances into the atmosphere to hide the fact that the moon landings were faked by Democrats who were scared that they would expose that the Earth really is flat, and reveal their secret base hidden behind the Arctic ice wall where they sacrificed small children for the Lizard people who actually rule the planet, should generate some sales.
What is your favourite conspiracy theory? Have you ever been tempted to turn it into a story? As always, feel free to comment here or on social media. (ALL CAPS optional).
Until next time,
Paul

Welcome to the #TuesdayTip. This week, I am celebrating when a minor character unexpectedly takes over the reins.
We writers love a good cliché. Not in our prose, obviously - we and our editors strive to cut them wherever we see them - but when asked to describe the process of writing, hell yeah, bring them on! One of those clichés is that sometimes a 'character takes over' the writing. For the logically-minded non-writer, this is patently nonsense. You are the writer, everything comes from your mind. The character is a fictional construct from your mind. Ergo, you are still in control. Well, duh, obviously.
Yet sometimes it feels as if you aren't in control of the process.
A related phenomenon is when a relatively minor character suddenly becomes more important. Like a character actor stealing all the attention from the A list celebrities.
I LOVE this!
When writing my third DCI Warren Jones novel, Silent As The Grave, I happened to be taking a creative writing class. Our homework was to write a short scene with two characters. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I chose to introduce the main antagonist's henchman, Bixby. A minor character that was little more than hired muscle (he didn't even have a first name). Over the course of those 300 words, the book was turned upside down. Bixby became one of the most intriguing characters I've ever met. By the end of the book, he was the most important and complex person in the story, other than my hero, DCI Jones.
More recently, in my current work in process, I introduced a female character who, whilst integral to the story, was little more than 'utility character' - a person that exists solely to help move everything along. Well, she wasn't having any of that! Within a couple of paragraphs of me first meeting her, the entire focus of the book changed. It is now her story. Everything takes place because of her actions and it is her we are rooting for. And I am loving every second of writing her. And the amazing thing? The underlying premise hasn't changed! My original two line idea is still there, in its entirety.
So, my advice? Take a leaf from my years of teaching. If a pupil is elbowing their way to the front of the class, don't slap them down and make them return to their seat. Don't stick to the original plan. Let them take over for a bit. If it doesn't work, never mind, you can always return to the original idea. You can even cut them out and use them in a different book (the character, not the pupil!). Because, sometimes the end result is far better than it would have been originally.
What are your thoughts on this? Should characters stay in their lane? Would you rather stick with the original plan, or are you willing to take a risk and give them a bigger voice to see what happens?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time, all the best,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

In last week's #TuesdayTip (Tip149) I discussed how it is important to make your procedure authentic, rather than realistic; to craft a compelling story without burdening your readers with too much detail. This week I want to look at a related idea - how to get away with using artistic licence.
It's something that we all struggle with. Artistic licence is the need to 'break the rules' to create a compelling story. We often see this in police procedurals. An admittedly unscientific survey I conducted of the books on my bookshelf, reveals that the main character in most of these books (especially those in a series) is usually an implausibly high rank. A Detective Chief Inspector or Detective Inspector, or even a Superintendent. This dogged individual will visit crime scenes, interview witnesses and suspects, chase bad guys and even perform the arrest at the end. My own series of books centre around DCI Warren Jones, who does all of the above.
Unfortunately, in real-life this is far from what really happens. In the UK, inspector ranks and above are largely office-based. They are likely to be the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) in charge of a major investigation, but it is an organisational role. They direct the case, but the legwork is usually carried out by detective constables or detective sergeants. Interviewing is a highly specialised role these days, conducted by interview specialists, which are almost exclusively DCs and sometimes DSs. SIOs will often visit a crime scene, but they are usually being shown around by other experts who have already been on site for some time. And they certainly don't go running after suspects and arrest them.
But for narrative purposes, a DI or DCI is an extremely useful rank. The implied level of seniority means that they can plausibly decide how the case is going to be solved, with a team below them to carry out the work, whilst still having to answer to those above them (a great source of narrative conflict). In theory, they see all the evidence and can piece together all the pieces to 'solve the case'. That's not how it works in real-life. In reality it is far more of a team effort, but for the purposes of story-telling readers (and viewers) need a 'hero' they can focus on.


I came up against another instance of reality getting in the way of my story very early in the series. My books are set in a fictional north-Hertfordshire town called Middlesbury, but Warren and his team are officers in the very real Hertfordshire Constabulary. About halfway through writing book one, The Last Straw I was doing some research and realised to my horror that ALL major crime in Hertfordshire and the adjoining counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire is investigated in one big building in Welwyn Garden City run by the three constabularies to increase efficiency and save costs. I had already set up the team structure as described above, with Middlesbury CID consisting of a Detective Superintendent in overall charge, my hero DCI Warren Jones as SIO and then a small team of officers below him. This places Warren in the centre, and limits the number of major characters that readers need to get to know. It also allows those characters to remain consistent from book to book, rather than each investigation being staffed by a different selection of officers assigned from a pool (conveniently, none of my main characters are on annual leave when each year's murder happens!).


As a writer, I therefore had two choices. Either ignore reality and hope my readers will forgive me because it's a cracking story. Or address it head-on. In my series, I decided to address it head on. I explain that Middlesbury CID (which is geographically quite distant from Welwyn Garden City and semi-rural) is a unique 'first response CID unit'. Middlesbury deals with major crime in the local area and recruits additional officers as needed from Welwyn. This is a complete fiction, as far as I am aware.
This set-up also helped me address the other big use of artistic licence; DCI Jones being the heart of the action. I've made it a bit of an in-joke, with Warren being acknowledged as probably the only officer of his rank who still interviews suspects and visits crime scenes (some of his peers are jealous that he gets to poke around crime scenes whilst they are stuck in budget meetings). Narratively, it also means that Middlesbury and Warren are always under pressure to justify their unique (and costly) status.
Touch wood, my readers seem happy to accept this and I have had few, if any criticisms. I've even had the odd retired police officer comment that 'it sounds like something we might do'.
So my advice is this:
If you are going to use artistic licence to break the rules, first know the rules so you can break them effectively. Then decide whether you are going to ignore this on the grounds "it's fiction, innit?" or if you are going to explain it away.
Lee Child once said that readers will forgive one big instance of implausibility. He was specifically referring to the fact that about once a year, Jack Reacher will wander into a small American town where there is a problem bubbling beneath the surface, which he will then fix in his own unique way (spoiler alert: there will be violence and mayhem and the evildoers will usually end up buried in the ground, before Reacher moves on, never to be seen again until it's time for the next book).
So, decide what your instances of implausibility are and decide whether you are going to keep them or fix them. And if you keep them, whether or not to address them head on.
Do you have examples of artistic licence? How do you think they should be dealt with?
As always feel free to comment here or on social media.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time,
Paul 

Tomorrow sees the release of the ninth full-length entry in the DCI Warren Jones series, Web of Lies. So this week's #TuesdayTip is going to examine the process of writing the quickest novel I have written to date.
Web of Lies wasn't the book I was planning on writing. A couple of years ago, when I signed my latest 3 book contract, I gave my publisher three loose outlines for the next in the series. The first, about an unidentified dead body found in a ditch, became 2021's Out of Sight. The second, a blood-soaked serial killer novel, became 2022's Time To Kill. The third was an idea about homeless victims. The basic premise for each pitch was little more than a couple of paragraphs (regular readers of this blog will know by now that I rarely plan much in advance), although I had sketched out the character arcs for my series regulars.
Like many writers, when I am coming close to the end of the current novel I am writing, my mind starts to wander and I begin to think about the next book. This time, as I was coming to the end of Time To Kill, I started to realise that my proposed third book had too many themes in common with Time To Kill. As I mulled over what to do about that, I happened to be watching a true crime documentary. I can't for the life of me remember which one, but my attention was caught by an interview recording. The set up was unremarkable: a couple of police officers off-screen, a suspect in the obligatory grey tracksuit, and a solicitor, face blurred, diligently taking notes.
And an idea started to form. Nothing to do with the crime for which the man was being accused, rather the set up. And a really interesting 'what if?' scenario.
I did some research, and then reached out to a fellow crime writer, Lesley Jones and her husband Chris, who I had enjoyed the company of at a CWA conference dinner a few years previously. They are experienced solicitors, and so I proposed the central premise of my novel. To nobody's surprise, what I suggested would be legally questionable, ethically dubious and unlikely to happen in real-life. But it was still a good idea. So with their help, I worked my way around the problem and came up with a scenario that would work. I then placed it to one side and carried on working on the book I was supposed to be finishing. But of course, now that the idea had taken hold, other thoughts started to form.
For years, I have fancied writing a missing person novel. The attractions are obvious - from the very start of the novel, there is a ticking clock. Rather than starting with a dead body, which in some ways can be almost routine, the investigative team is immediately thrust into a high-stakes race against time.
By the time I had finished the first complete draft of Time To Kill, I was desperate to start writing my new book. According to the time stamp on working draft version 1.0 for Book 9 (the working title for Web of Lies) the document was created on July the 1st 2021.
One of the things about being a writer under contract is that you always have a couple of books on the go at different stages of development. Time To Kill was far from finished; I had sent copies to my trusty beta readers, Mum, Dad and my then fiancée Cheryl. After a few weeks, their notes came back and I stopped writing Book 9 to incorporate those changes. I then had to go through the manuscript again, looking for places to trim and shorten. Eventually I submitted Time To Kill to my publisher and started writing Book 9 again .
Over the next few months I took time out for a brief holiday and to supervise some building work. The first complete draft of book 9 was finished on the 12th of October. Subtract the time when I was doing other things, and I estimate that initial draft took less than three months. This is less than half the time taken usually.
Why it was so quick, I genuinely have no idea, and if I could bottle whatever it was that caused the words to flow so quickly, I'd be a very happy man!
Maybe it was the weather and the summer months? I wasn't tutoring over that period, which helps, and the weather was warm enough for me to work in the garden. I've found that using my tiny little writing laptop that doesn't even have  email installed helps me maintain focus. In the winter months, I tend to work in my office on my proper laptop. This has a double screen set up, and whilst it is undoubtedly more efficient and easier to work on, perhaps that is off-set by having more distractions? Perhaps I need to exercise more discipline and close my email and put my phone away? Alternately, maybe I should move somewhere that I can work outside all year around?
Or perhaps those are just excuses. Maybe I just bottled a bit of lightning this time and it all came together.
I'll let you know next time…

If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

Until next time,
Paul.

This week's #TuesdayTip is inspired, in part, by the epic conclusion of the BBC drama, Happy Valley. First off, rest easy that there won't be any spoilers!
It occurred to me as I watched the series that one of the key strengths is the characterisation, in particular the way in which even the worst characters have qualities that make the readers empathise with them.
I've written before about how protagonists (the 'hero') and antagonists (the 'baddie') can often be two sides of the same coin, and how the same character can switch between the two (Tip#113). Today, I want to focus on the antagonist and discuss why the most memorable 'bad guys' have positive traits interwoven between the evil.
It's very easy to write a pantomime villain - a character that is all bad. They have no redeeming qualities, and the audience loves to hiss and boo as they make their entrance. But I find that one-sided approach to be ultimately unsatisfying.
Human beings are complex creatures. We accept that no person is wholly good. We all have flaws, some big, some small. Dig deep enough into your personal heroes and you'll find aspects of their personality or things that they have done that you disagree with. Similarly, the tabloid newspapers are experts at presenting killers and rapists as monsters with no redeemable qualities. But look beneath the surface (sometimes very deep, admittedly), and you will always find something that is good or likeable about that person. It doesn't excuse their actions, but it is there.
Furthermore, it is this contrast that often makes them more scary. How often have you heard shocked neighbours describing the quiet man at number 42 who turned out to be a serial killer as 'an ordinary family man'? Aside from the uneasiness from realising that evil-doers often hide in plain sight, the juxtaposition of a person who outwardly appears affectionate towards friends and families with an individual that is capable of great cruelty, magnifies the horror we feel at what they do. That contrast amplifies the impact of their crimes.
In Happy Valley, the writer Sally Wainwright, and actor James Norton, crafted a memorable antagonist that kept millions of viewers hooked for three seasons, spread over almost a decade. Tommy Lee Royce was capable of tremendous cruelty and violence. Yet in the final episodes he evolved from a wicked bogey monster to a complex, damaged individual. Many viewers were left discomfited by the fact that whilst none of his actions could be justified, they could be understood on some level. They found themselves feeling a degree of sympathy towards him, that means he will linger in their consciousness long after the series has ended.
Humanising The Bad Guy.
As writers, we want our characters to not only leap off the page through cleverly-crafted descriptions and memorable actions, but we also want our readers to experience emotion as they read about them. In the case of our antagonists, we want the over-riding feeling to be negative. But if we truly want them to feel authentic and to make them memorable, we need to tap into that inner contradiction that human beings are both good and evil. In other words, we need to humanise them.
Now first of all, humanising is not the same as condoning. Empathising with a character is not the same as forgiving them. Hitler was no less evil because he was a vegetarian who loved his dogs.
So how can we humanise our antagonists to make them more rounded, memorable and effective villains?
To do so, you need to give them traits that we can empathise with, or motives and desires that we can understand (and perhaps even agree with, even if we would never countenance how they set about to achieve them).
The first tranche of Marvel comic book movies built towards an epic showdown between the Avengers and Thanos, a god-like creature who, with a snap of his fingers killed 50% of all living beings. Evil incarnate.
Yet look at his motives: to simplify greatly, he believed that the universe was being destroyed by over-population. His drastic solution was to halve the number of lifeforms. Few would agree with his methods, but his goal, the protection of the universe, was on one level laudable. Fundamentally, he believed he was making a sacrifice for the greater good. Add to that his love for his adopted daughters and you have a character that is a lot more memorable than at first glance.
Back on Earth, I was faced with a conundrum when writing The Common Enemy, the fourth full-length novel in my DCI Warren Jones series. The victim in this book was the leader of a far-right extremist party. Tommy Meegan was racist, homophobic and violent, as were his friends. However, I needed the reader to empathise with the victim, otherwise they wouldn't care if Warren brought his killer to justice or not. They didn't have to like him, or agree with him, but they did need to see him as a human being.
You can do this for your own characters in a number of ways.

• Most powerfully, show that they are loved. Despite their failings, give them family and friends who enjoy spending time with them and miss them when they are absent.
• Show why they are loved. An easy way to do this is small acts of kindness or loyalty. Does your murderous, psychopathic serial killer do a bit of shopping for their elderly neighbour? Do they ring their grandmother or visit a dying relative every day without fail?
• Show that they can love. Maybe they have a family that they would do anything for? Or a beloved pet.
• Give them traits that make them likeable under the right circumstances. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, they are unlikeable. But do they have a sense of humour? Or everyday interests and hobbies and opinions that you or I may share? Hannibal Lecter is a charming, erudite and cultured individual. If it wasn't for his murderous impulses, I dare say he'd be enjoyable company at a dinner party.
• Give them flaws that the reader can empathise or sympathise with, because the reader shares them or knows others who do.
• Give them a motivation that we can understand (or perhaps even agree with to a certain extent). Do they kill for revenge (they or a loved one have been hurt)? Are they so obsessed with always being in control because they had a childhood where they felt powerless? Do they commit acts of violence because that is the only way they were taught how to solve a problem? Do they just want to share their inner pain with others, so they aren't alone?

How can you humanise your antagonist? Can you think of any good examples in fiction or real-life?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time,
All the best,
Paul

It's release day for DCI Warren Jones' eighth full-length outing! Time To Kill is available as an eBook today, and paperback and audio later in the summer.
​You can read more about it here, or download it here.
So I decided to celebrate by interviewing the star of the show, Detective Chief Inspector Warren Jones.
Enjoy.

PG: Welcome to this week's Heart of Herts podcast, in association with Middlesbury Gazette - your number one source for Hertfordshire news and views. I'm your presenter, Paul Gitsham, and today I am joined by Detective Chief Inspector Warren Jones. I'm sure listeners to the Heart of Herts podcast will be fascinated to hear from Middlesbury's most successful detective.
WJ: Um, thank you. That's very kind of you to say so.
PG: Now, just a little background. I can tell from your accent that you're from Birmingham, and I understand you started your career in the West Midlands Police?
WJ: Sorry, just to interrupt there, I'm from Coventry. The accents can sound similar to those not from the West Midlands.
PG: Oops, sorry about that. I guess my next question about whether you support Aston Villa or Birmingham City is a bit redundant! I imagine you follow Coventry City. The Sky Blues?
WJ: Erm, I don't really watch football...
PG: OK. Why don't we start that bit again? We can replace it in the edit.
[PG starts recording again.]
PG: You started your career with West Midlands Police, on the mean streets of Coventry. But you decided to transfer to our quiet corner of North Hertfordshire, back in 2011, I believe? Why the move?
WJ: That's correct. I did my training with the WMP, and worked in Coventry and the surrounding towns as a uniformed officer, before joining CID, where I was eventually promoted to detective inspector. Unfortunately, when it was time for me to progress further, there were no vacancies within West Mids, but a post had recently become available at Middlesbury CID, so I made the move down here.
PG: Ah yes, a vacancy became available after DCI Gavin Sheehy was sacked after allegations of corruption. Were you aware of the circumstances surrounding his removal before you moved down here?
WJ: I'm afraid, I can't really talk about that.
[PG sighs]
PG: OK, I'll cut that from the interview. Let's try something else.
I referred to Middlesbury as a 'quiet corner of North Hertfordshire'. And up until 2011, it certainly was. But since your arrival, it would seem that's no longer the case. How many murders have there been since you came here?
WJ: Um, I can't tell you off the top of my head ...
PG: At least one a year, often more. Some of our listeners feel that crime rates have soared recently. In fact, a few weeks ago, you investigated a serial killer. Can you tell us a bit about that?
WJ: Unfortunately, I can't comment directly on that investigation until the trial concludes.
[PG rubs eyes wearily]
PG: We're not having a lot of luck here, are we Warren?
WJ: Sorry.
PG: OK, let's try something more general.
Some of our listeners feel that crime rates have soared in recent years. What are you doing to try and bring the crime rate down?
WJ: That's not really the role of CID. Our job is to solve crimes that have already taken place. Hopefully, by locking up those responsible, we can prevent future offences. You really need to speak to the Community Policing Team about their initiatives to reduce crime. Why not contact the Media Relations Unit?
PG: I'm not sure our listeners are really interested in a press release, I think they'd rather hear it from you, Warren.
WJ: Sorry. It really isn't my department.
PG: In that case, let's start again and talk about how you go about solving a crime.
[PG clears throat and reactivates the microphone]
I believe that you are somewhat unusual in that despite your senior rank you still interview suspects and speak to witnesses. Why is that?
WJ: You are correct that most of my peers tend to have a more managerial role, however I've always enjoyed the hands-on side of policing. I am very fortunate that Middlesbury's unique role as a first-response CID unit allows me the freedom to pursue investigations in that way. It's one of the reasons I love my job.
PG: Some would say that it is a role better suited to a lower rank, such as a detective constable or perhaps a detective sergeant. And that with the ever-shrinking police budget, it would be better to close Middlesbury and absorb you and your officers into the combined major crime unit in Welwyn Garden City. How would you respond to that?
WJ: I can't really comment, it's a bit above my pay grade.
[PG stops the recording again]
PG: We're really struggling here, Warren.
[PG starts again]
PG: What are your views on the austerity cuts to the police under the Conservative government?
WJ: As a serving police officer, I'm afraid I have to remain politically neutral.
[PG sighs]
PG: What about the decision to close the Forensic Science Service in 2012? How badly has that impacted what you do?
WJ: Again, I can't ...
PG: Yeah, yeah, I get it.
[PG switches off the microphone]
PG: Warren, why exactly did you agree to this interview?
WJ: Off the record?
PG: If you must.
WJ: I lost a bet to DI Tony Sutton.
PG: Can I ask what about?
WJ: He said that I wouldn't be able to last a whole week without caffeine. If I managed it, I got to choose the music in the car for the next month. If I lost, I had to agree to do an interview with a journalist.
PG: How long did you manage?
WJ: Three days. Which is longer than my wife thought I would.
PG: Do you think DI Sutton would agree to an interview?
WJ: He'd be delighted. But he'd probably end up saying something that would get Hertfordshire Constabulary sued, so the Media Relations Unit have already banned him from speaking to the press.
PG: You know what? Maybe we should knock this on the head.
WJ: That's probably for the best.

Paul Gitsham is a former biologist, secondary school science teacher and tutor. Time To Kill is the 8th full-length DCI Warren Jones novel, with another four shorter novellas, plus short stories.
He currently lives in the east of England with his fiancee, in a house with more books than shelf space. 

Where do you go next when your last book had half a dozen victims?

As writers, we always want to improve our craft. We want our next book to be better than the last. We owe it to our readers, and we owe it to ourselves.

But as in so much of life, there can be a perception that better means bigger.
So, to repeat the question, where do you go next, when your last book had half a dozen victims? Do you kill seven this time? Eight?
Clearly that would soon get ridiculous. Lee Child's Jack Reacher series numbers over twenty entries, and whilst Reacher can be a one-man wrecking crew at times, the body count is rarely that high!

Over the course of my DCI Warren Jones series, I have resisted the urge to try and make the next story "bigger". In fact I have deliberately switched between "big" stories and "smaller" stories.
But what does that mean? First of all, it has nothing to do with wordcount. Each of my full-length novels is the same length, plus or minus about 10%.

Rather, I define a story as Big or Small based on the impact that the central murder or murders have on wider society.

Murder invariably has an impact beyond the immediate victim. Like throwing a stone into a pond, the ripples extend to effect the all those around them. Friends, family and loved ones of the deceased are affected, for good or bad. The same can be said for the killer - murder is not an act to be undertaken lightly, and the consequences of a life sentence can also be felt by those associated with them. And, whilst every death is a catastrophe in its own way, some leave a bigger impression on society than others.

Yet a Small story should be no less compelling than a Big story. A meaty thriller with a serial killer who kills multiple victims is by definition a Big Story. That story is composed of many individual tragedies and the ripples can be felt far and wide. A Small story allows for greater study of an individual tragedy. The ripples might not travel as far, but the author can spend more time with those affected. The investigation at the heart of the novel can still be as complex and twisty, but there is no need for a escalating body count to satisfy readers.

I like to write a mix of stories whose impact is either big or small. The first in the Warren Jones series, The Last Straw, concerns the murder of a university professor. And whilst we meet an ever-widening pool of suspects, with multiple motives, the ripples are largely contained within that pool. On the other hand, book 2, No Smoke Without Fire, is about a serial rapist and murderer. There are multiple victims. Each is its own tragedy, and we spend time with their loved ones, but there is understandably a wider effect on the wider community. Who will be next? Should those in the surrounding area be concerned about their own and loved one's safety?

The ripples can be felt in other ways. The central murder in The Common Enemy is that of a far-right extremist. The consequences here would seem to be contained to his loved ones (and whilst he was a deeply unpleasant character, few people travel through life without at least someone who cares for them and will miss them). However, Middlesbury is a powder keg of racial tension at this time, and the death of this one man has the potential to spill over into far greater conflict, so I would class this as a Big story.

The latest two entries in the series, Out of Sight, and this summer's Time To Kill are an example of each type of story. Out of Sight deals with the killing of a lonely man with a secret life. He's ostracised by his family, but as we find out, he still had many who cared for him, however the ripples are largely contained within his circle. Time To Kill has Warren and his team uncover unexpected links between seemingly unrelated deaths. Once it becomes apparent that anyone could be next, the ripples are more akin to those caused by throwing a large rock into a pond, rather than a pebble.

The take home message here, is that a better story doesn't have to be a Bigger story. It isn't necessary to raise the body count or even raise the stakes to keep a series improving. A small intimate study of a single death can be just as good as a wide-ranging investigation into a bloodbath. The next book in a series can still be better than the previous without needing to throw a larger stone into the pond.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel that once an author has "gone large" they need to continue with those Big books whose ripples extend far and wide, or can they dial it back in the next book and focus on a single death that is important to those in the victim's immediate circle but of limited concern to the rest of the society?

As always, feel free to share your thoughts her or on social media.

Until next time,
best wishes,
Paul.

To celebrate the release of DCI Warren Jones, Out of Sight, as paperback and audiobook, I decided it would be a great time to sit down with Malk Williams, my long-time audio narrator, and have a chat about what it takes to turn a novel into an audiobook.
The full conversation was kindly hosted live on the Facebook page of UK Crime Book Club and is archived on their YouTube page. You can watch the whole thing here, and hear some of Malk's favourite accents, as well as some of his stories about being a narrator.
But as this is a #TuesdayTip, I have distilled some key bits of advice from this conversation, plus other tips that I've picked up in previous chats with Malk.

Why Have Your Books Narrated?
Over the past few years, audiobooks have increased massively in popularity. Once seen as a niche market, increasing numbers of people have been turning to them when commuting, or as a way to while away the hours when doing other things, such as housework. Audible is owned by Amazon and books are often synced with the Kindle version of the novel, allowing readers to switch seamlessly between reading and listening. Depending on the price-point that the royalties for eBooks and audiobooks have been set to, audiobooks often come with a greater revenue cut. Although, it should be noted that the higher price of audiobooks is in part necessary to recoup the additional costs needed to produce the recording. 
How Is It Done?
As with everything these days, authors can in theory create the audiobook themselves. But it should be noted that to create a professional-sounding recording, you will need a decent microphone setup, somewhere that can act as a soundproof booth, and appropriate editing software. Furthermore, you really need to consider paying for an editor, and that reading for twelve to sixteen hours takes its toll (a decent-sized novel might take a couple of weeks of full days)! Furthermore, not everyone's voice is suited to reading aloud. Audio narrators are skilled professionals.
The process itself is somewhat more complex than it may seem - it isn't just a case of sitting in a sound-proofed room, pressing record and reading. The specialist software is needed to help you edit out mistakes, balance sound levels so that each chapter is a consistent volume, and artefacts such as throat clearing or fluffed words are removed. The finished recording typically consists of a number of individual sound files - one for each chapter - which then need to be correctly packaged.
For most writers, paying a professional is the most sensible route to go down. In the same way that self-published books where the author has designed the cover themselves, edited it themselves and typeset and formatted the eBook/paperback, tend to stand out and look amateurish, self-recorded audiobooks are similarly difficult to produce. It's up to you to decide if the investment is worth it, but if you are serious about producing a polished, professional product that will turn a profit, you need to think about hiring professionals. See the section below for more information about how you can get your books narrated.
The process.
There are several steps of which reading the text aloud is only one.
A typical work flow might look like this:
Pre-reading. The narrator reads through the manuscript. They make notes about which voices they will need to do, identify words that they need to verify the pronunciation for, and think about accents. Malk sometimes contacts me here.
Read each chapter and record it as a separate MP3 file. If they are working with a producer, they may send each chapter to them as it is completed.
First pass editing. Experienced narrators will probably do this themselves. They make sure there are no obvious errors and it all sounds even and clear. Often the narrator will pick up an error as they are reading. They can mark the error by clapping and continue reading (this creates a spike in the waveform, that can be easily located later) or they can "punch and roll", where they press a button and the software rolls back a few seconds, so they pick up the narration before the error and just record over the mistake and continue.
Proofreading. Just like writers, narrators can miss small errors. The proofreader will return corrections, which the narrator re-records. An editor will then insert these corrections into the audio file, as well as cut out background noises or coughs and other artefacts and unnecessary pauses.
Mastering. Here the volume etc is balanced across the files so chapter one isn't louder than chapter two etc.

Dos And Don'ts.
(or how to be kind to your narrator!)
When I started writing my DCI Warren Jones series, audio narration wasn't something I had ever considered. I was four books into the series before it was even mentioned. With the benefit of hindsight, there are things I would have done differently.

• The biggest error I made, was failing to mention until several books in that one of my characters has a distinctive regional accent. I knew from book one that DS David Hutchinson was a Geordie from Newcastle. But I somehow neglected to write this down until a third of the way through book 5! Obviously, it was too late to correct this. I managed to get around this by mentioning in subsequent books that he'd spent most of his adult life in the Hertfordshire, and so his accent has been buried, only to resurface after a few pints or if he has been watching Newcastle United playing football. Malk and I still laugh about this now 🤣. If you can, give some clues early in the text as to how you'd like the character to sound. That way, they'll sound the way you want them to off the bat.
• Don't give the killer dialogue in the prologue! It seems obvious, but your narrator will have to speak that dialogue in the killer's voice, giving away their identity on page one! I dodged this bullet after a chance conversation with Malk - I subsequently rewrote the prologue of the book I was about to submit, so the killer's identity was concealed.
• Another classic error from that first book was including a load of data in a table! The team had the phone records for a number of unknown mobile phones, which they were using to construct links between different people. This is a commonly used data analysis technique and reproducing the table for readers seemed like a sensible thing to do. It worked beautifully for the eBook and the paperback - but presented a challenge for Malk when he narrated! Fortunately, he has a background as a technical writer and so was able to succinctly describe the table for listeners, but it could have gone horribly wrong. Narrators are often asked to record textbooks etc so they can describe graphs, images or tables, but if you need visual data in your book, consider writing a few lines of description for your narrator to read out - they'll appreciate it!
• A final faux pas from that book was the inclusion of a written note by a person with dyslexia. The text on the page was spelled phonetically, with the incorrect use of some homonyms (words that sound the same, but are spelt differently with different meanings - eg there and their or bear and bare) and it was obvious to the reader that the writer was dyslexic. Fortunately, my forensic linguist character discussed the note in detail, so listeners didn't miss anything. If I do anything similar in future books, I will have to put some thought into how my narrator can make it obvious to the listener, without me patronising readers.
• Read your manuscript aloud to yourself. It's amazing how we often read what we think we wrote, not what we actually typed! Reading aloud will pick up many of these mistakes, and so is good for editing generally. But it also highlights tricky sentences with complex punctuation - whilst a five-line sentence may be grammatically correct, will your narrator actually be able to read it aloud in one breath!
• Finally, emojis. These are available in character sets for printed material now. Malk assures me that he can deal with them, by reading a sentence and describing the relevant emoji eg "I'd hate for something to happen to you 😉" would be spoken as "I'd hate for something to happen to you, winking emoji".

How Can You Get Your Books Narrated?
If you decide that you would like your books narrated, then there are a few steps you can take.

• First, make sure you possess the legal rights to audio narration. If you have been published by a publishing house, check your contract. You may have granted the rights to audio narration etc to the publishing house, in which case you would need their permission to record the book. When signing a new contract, look at the terms - get it checked by a lawyer or join the Society of Authors and get them to vet the contract. If the publishing house is a large one, and they have already produced audiobooks of other authors' work, then you might be better off speaking to them about whether they would be willing to have them recorded (that way, they'll pay for everything!). If you are independently published, then you probably own all your rights, so there's no need for permission.
• Once you have the rights secured, you will need to choose a narrator. ACX is the talent exchange owned by Audible, but others exist. They have a database of performers that you can search to find a match that suits your book. They detail their skills and availability, list previous books that they have worked on and have samples that you can listen to.
• If you are looking for specialists in the British crime genre, there is a newly formed collective of experienced, award-winning narrators. Malk Williams, my long-time narrator, is a founding member, but between them they have contacts for most of the narrators working in the UK. Check out www.raconteurs.co.uk.   
• Payment methods vary. You can pay them a one-off upfront fee, or you can enter into a royalty-share agreement, whereby they get a cut of the royalties earned. As you can appreciate, this is a gamble for them - if the book doesn't sell, they won't get paid, so don't be disappointed if they want some sort of fixed-payment upfront to cover the time they will be investing. A novel may take two to four weeks to record and is a full-time job, meaning they can't do other paid work. If you register your book for PLR (the payment system for UK library loans), they will typically get a share of that also.

How Can You Get Into Audio Narration?
If you fancy getting into audio narration, be warned that it isn't for everyone. I know a couple of voice actors who steer clear of audiobooks. They've done them, but didn't especially enjoy the experience.
Malk cites the voiceover coach Sean Allen Pratt (paraphrased):
If you think audiobook narration might be for you, then go and sit in a cupboard. Choose a book to read. Start at the beginning. If you make a mistake, go back to the beginning of the sentence and start again. If you come across a word you are unsure of, stop and look up the pronunciation online - don't guess. Continue reading for several hours. Do that for several days in a row, until you've finished. If you haven't gone mad by the end of it, then maybe the job is for you.
To get work, you should record some samples and post them on ACX or similar.
When you have recorded a few books, then you may be able to apply to join a production company, whose casting directors might put you on their books and start contacting you, rather than the other way around.
As with anything in life, professionalism is key. Don't over commit to unrealistic deadlines. Make sure you are clear about any limitations (eg if you can't do Scottish accents, say so upfront, don't embarrass yourself and the writer). Keep a portfolio of work you are proud of.
It's also worth noting that at the moment, because of Covid, the market is saturated with out-of-work stage and screen actors.
Home-based narrators with their own studios, like Malk, were fortunate during Covid to be able to continue working, however, you don't need to commit to that sort of outlay. You can hire studio space as well as editors and producers.
Your Voice Is Your Tool.
Like all professionals, you need to take care of your work equipment - namely your voice.

• When I started my teacher training, we were taught how to look after our voices. For example, if you need to speak at high volume, practise this (there are tutorials on YouTube) - otherwise you can strain your vocal cords.
• Keep your voice well-lubricated. For example take regular sips from a bottle of TEPID water (cold can constrict the vocal cords) - use a bottle with a screw lid, not a glass, to avoid any expensive accidents!
• Take regular breaks when you try not to speak for a while - your vocal cords are muscles and will need periodic rests.
• Try not to start recording "from cold" eg as soon as you wake up. Speak a bit to loosen your vocal cords before recording, otherwise the pitch might change as the muscles warm up.
• Some suggest that coffee might dry your mouth, but it's not an issue that Malk has ever found a problem.
• If your voice is feeling scratchy, try a spoon full of manuca honey to soothe your throat.

So there you are. I have been delighted with my audiobooks, I love them! There is something special about hearing a skilled professional like Malk bringing my characters to life. Even if you aren't considering having your books recorded, I hope you've learned something and please do check out the video, Malk is an entertaining speaker.
Until next time,
Best wishes,
Paul.