Here's an interesting one. Chip Kidd is a graphic designer with Alfred A Knopf publishing in New York. You'll recognise his work from such novels as Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

This is his take on how he designs covers; he also discusses his thoughts on paperback versus eBook. Click here to watch the video.

Had a fantastic time this evening hearing Stella Rimington talk about her writing and her latest novel "The Geneva Trap".

I was given the chance to join two other emerging crime writers, Meg Vann and Bess Emmanuel, in reading excerpts from our own work in front of Stella and the wonderful crowd at Avid Reader here in Brisbane. White Gold had the audience hooked!

I'm absolutely delighted and honoured to have been asked by the Brisbane chapter of Sisters in Crime Australia to read an excerpt from White Gold at the book launch of ex-MI5 chief Dame Stella Remington's new novel The Geneva Trap tomorrow night.

More details about the event are available here.

For those of you who have contacted me to ask about the research involved for my novels, here's a picture of a typical Sunday afternoon in my house. I expect to have two of those A4 pink folders chock-full of newspaper articles, government papers, emails from my 'panel of experts' and hastily scribbled notes to myself by the end of this next novel.


The rather pathetic pile of paper to the right of the laptop (nearest the window) is the next Dan Taylor novel in full swing - that's what 40,000 words looks like folks!