The Reckoning: Jane Casey
There is something serene about Jane Casey that utterly belies the darkness of the books she writes. Brought up in Dublin, Casey is elegant and cultured, her Irish accent subtle. On meeting her you might guess that she has a degree in English from Oxford,…
Touching Evil: Melissa Moore
Three years ago Melissa Moore was playing with her then six year old daughter in their back garden in Spokane, Washington. As the swing came to rest, her daughter asked an innocent question that set off a chain of events that was to bring Melissa…
Lee Child on Writing, Reacher & The Affair
So there’s this guy called Jack Reacher (no middle name) whose mother was French, who’s ex US Army Military Police, who travels across the USA with nothing except a toothbrush. He’s 6’5’’and weighs 220-250lbs, has dirty blonde hair, ice blue eyes. And he knows how…
Liza Marklund: Exposed
Lisa Marklund has the sort of presence that makes everyone in a room look up. Tall (very), attractive (very), she commands attention in the same way that she grabs you when you pick up one of her books. But it’s not only her readers who…
Finding the Solution: Lynda LaPlante
“The first blow to his head made his body lurch sideways, striking his face against the bedside cabinet…” Crime writers are always told that they need to begin with a hook, and this is the gripping opening line to Lynda La Plante’s twenty sixth novel…
Absolute Zero Cool: Declan Burke
‘Stop writing’, the words that formed the foundation of Declan Burke’s literary career. Since he stopped writing, he has written three books, edited an anthology about Irish crime writers and started the always engaging ‘Crime Always Pays’ blog. He has been featured in the various…
True Crime with Niamh O’Connor
Sam: Getting published can be long and rocky road for many writers, how did you get started writing? Niamh: I trained as a journalist and ended up covering big criminal trials. I realized that one in particular would make a really great book so I…
Stop Me! Richard Jay Parker
So who is Richard Jay Parker and how did he start writing? Richard was a professional TV writer for twenty-two years, contributing to a wide variety of TV shows, and eventually becoming a head writer and script editor. Sounds good, but in tuuth he much preferred drinking with the …
24hrs with Crime Reporter Abigail Rieley
It’s a very precise form of journalism but one that is a fantastic way to learn how to tell a story. I’ve been working in the courts for the past five years. It’s not something I ever thought I’d find myself doing but I love the job. It’s…
The Ghosts of Belfast: Stuart Neville
Stuart Neville has been a musician, a composer, a teacher, a salesman, a film extra, a baker and a hand double for a well known Irish comedian, but is currently a partner in a successful multimedia design business in the wilds of Northern Ireland. He’s…
Boxing Clever with CJ Box
“He threaded his horse up through gnarled bell-shaped stands of juniper. The trees were heavy with clusters of green buds, and the scent within the stand was sweet and heavy and it reminded him of a gin martini. His horse spooked rabbits that shot out…
A Burning Ambition: Jane Casey
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and a similar warning should apply to authors. Quietly spoken and impeccably mannered, Jane Casey is a doe-eyed beauty who could well have popped up as some hack writer’s notion of what a serial killer’s…
Risky Business: Niamh O’Connor
If I Never See You Again introduced readers to ballsy DI Jo Birmingham, a mother of two with a failed marriage and her own skeletons in the cupboard. Taken is the second novel in the Jo Birmingham series, and while ‘gripping page turner’ may be a cliché, this…
About Sam Blake
Sam Blake is Vanessa O'Loughlin's alter ego. When she isn't reading or writing crime fiction, Vanessa runs the Irish writing resources website www.writing.ie and brings best selling authors to Inkwell Writers Workshops to guide and inspire aspiring writers. Vanessa is PRO for Irish PEN. As Sam Blake, Vanessa gets to do what she enjoys most - write! Find out more about Sam Blake...
