Nick Swift

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 81:
On the worst days, remember this. There is no straw - be it sorrow, grief, ill-health or misfortune - that can't be spun into stories.

😬🙄😳🤔🙃

Stephen Downing: The Confession Stephen Downing spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Could Forensic Linguistics have saved him sooner?

For those of you who prefer to listen, Stephen Downing: The Confession, is now available as an audioblog on the #criminalSentences website

My sincere thanks to Stephen Downing for his permission.

Applications for Word Space 2026-27 are now open - Literature Works The submissions window for places on our annual talent development programme, Word Space, is now open. Word Space 2026-27 will support a group of writers from across the South West to develop their…

⏰ Has January flown by for you too?

There's only about a week left to apply to be part of #WordSpace - our talent development programme for emerging writers in the South West - in 2026-27.

Grab an application pack here🔗

Stephen Downing: The Confession In an earlier blog, Finding Wendy, I recalled my first encounter with Stephen Downing. Stephen was just 17 years old in September 1973, when Wendy Sewell was murdered in Bakewell Cemetery where Ste…

Stephen Downing spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Could Forensic Linguistics have saved him sooner?

New blog available now #criminalsentences #miscarriageofjustice #stephendowning #wendysewell #bakewell

criminalsentences.co.uk/2026/01/25/s...

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 147:
Don't ask yourself if a story has been told before: it has. Ask yourself how you're going to tell it in a way that is unique to you.

Finding Wendy My research for this website has taken me down many a rabbit hole; and one in particular, was eerily close to home. In this special blog, I share my journey in search of a forgotten victim.

My search for Wendy Sewell is now available as an audioblog (9 min listen).

#HerNameWasWendySewell #VAWG #NeverForget #CriminalSentences

Bingo! Special 45th Anniversary Audioblog This weekend marks the 45-year anniversary of Peter Sutcliffe’s arrest, ending his reign of terror over women in the North of England. Senior ranking officers took all the glory, but the real…

Friday 2nd to Monday 5th January, marks 45 years since the arrest, questioning and eventual confession of Peter Sutcliffe.

For those who prefer to listen, here's an audioblog (11mins) in celebration of the two brilliant Bobbies who finally got the job done back in 1981.

Criminal Sentences Nic Perrins presents a true crime blog with a linguistic twist

Welcome to a new true crime blog: CRIMINAL SENTENCES.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," is not true. Words can wreck lives. Words can kill. Criminal Sentences can prove it.

Follow me, as I prepare to uncover some serious word crime.

www.criminalsentences.co.uk

Haha. Impossible task!

Cover image of the novel referred to in the post. A man in a park in Paris.

The joy of being so late to Charles Cumming's Thomas Kell party and devouring A Foreign Country over Christmas is that I have two more in the series immediately to hand!

#amreading #spythriller #fiction #booksky #amwriting

I have lots of new books including Side-eye by ace poet @mattnicholson.bsky.social and Special Attraction by Richard Lusmore. My hours are 10.30 to 4, Tues to Sat and email anytime at jlellam@hotmail.co.uk if you would like to place an order or if you have any queries xxx

Mark Rodgers – Painted Bridges Painted Bridges – Mark Rodgers Mark is a traditional painter. Traditional in the sense that he paints ‘en plein air’ or in situ, outdoors, with easel, paint and brushes, open to t…

Open Bridges - Mark Rodgers is a traditional painter, painting outdoors, with easel, paint and brushes. Here you can see his paintings, together with his enlightening and entertaining recollections of painting his landscapes of six of Hull’s River Bridges: openbridgeshull.com/2025/11/07/m...

A paperback book and CD album

A pacy thriller with great characterisation of people, place and eras, and a dark belter of a twist I didn't see coming! Congrats to @lucynichol.bsky.social on her latest triumph, Girls To The Front, which I devoured in just two sittings ...

#booksky #fiction #thriller 📚💙

Crail 🎣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🩵

HULL: I’m going to be chatting all things crime and thriller with Opt Indie Books and fellow authors Louise Swanson and @nickquantrill.bsky.social at Union Mash Up 7th November

Who’s coming? Please help spread the word! Ticket link in replies

Great pics of a great band! Sadly the lurgy kept me away.

Thanks Folks! Thanks to everyone who has watched, listened to, bought or shared our new single Blazing Zombies so far. It’s been great fun to record it and make the video. But there is a serious side to th…

Thanks to everyone who has watched, listened to, bought or shared our new single Blazing Zombies so far. It's been great fun to record it and make the video. But there is a serious side to the song too. This is the backstory at the link: undeadguitars.co.uk/2025/10/26/t...

170 free crime and thriller ebooks today at stuffyourkindle.com

TODAY ONLY – 170 FREE CRIME & THRILLER EBOOKS, including my crime thriller The Bride’s Trail. The rest of the Trail series are only 99p each too! Help yourself to free books at StuffYourKindleCrime.com

#SYK #StuffYourKindleCrime #StuffYourKindle #CrimeFiction #Thrillers #Thrillerbooks #Free #Books

Photo of novel Girls to the Front and CD album Amusia b Katastropy Wife

Happy publication day to @lucynichol.bsky.social as Girls To The Front flies out into the world! Suitable soundtrack sorted ...

#booksky 📚💙

French Disko

spotify.link/ddmTzp2OsXb

A grey ground with a book on it called Girls to the Front and wording that says 16.10.25 pre orders available now

Help!

Amazon have taken almost all copies of my new indie book GIRLS TO THE FRONT as stock & it’s a fortune to re-print so we need to sell them!

So if you fancy a 90’s found footage feminist revenge thriller w/a cover designed by Chris Bigg (4AD) pls stick a pre order in

Out NEXT WEEK. Link below

👌😅🙃 #iseewhatyoudidthere

Front cover of novel A Reluctant Spy

I raced through A Reluctant Spy, @davegoodman.bsky.social ... a 'legendary' debut! 😉

How to Encourage Kids to Read Stories (And Why You Should) Reading, for kids, is a good habit to encourage, and literature is no exception to this. Read on to learn about encouraging kids to read.

A love of reading in childhood can last a lifetime. Teacher resource site Twinkl has published this insightful blog on how to encourage kids to read.

Abie Longstaff, Chair of The SofA’s Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group shares her top tips.

www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/how-to-...

Anyone fancy a riot grrrl inspired found footage thriller? Pre order on the links below…

28 Humber Film – Open Bridges 2017 Hull’s River Bridges:  Open Bridges The Day the City Split in Two We commisioned Humber Film Creative Community and Octovision Media to make the Open Bridges film. It was filmed by …

The Open Bridges film, made by 16 film Humber Filmmakers and a drone on the night shows how Open Bridges made history in 2017. You can see it here accompanied by John Stead's musique concrète soundtrack openbridgeshull.com/2025/09/19/2...
#Hull #Bridges #HODS #OpenBridges

An image of a textured grey background with a book cover on the front. The cover shows a pair of feet and an arm behind a blurred background. The title is Girls to the Front

⭐️cover reveal ⭐️

This is the gorgeous cover of my new found-footage riot grrrl inspired thriller GIRLS TO THE FRONT out 16th October.

Music fans - does the artwork remind you of anything…?

Home | louisemcintoshartist - paintings, art, travel. Lou Mac Artist paints original pieces which all draw their inspiration from quirky streets, rugged landscapes, characterful buildings and iconic landmarks.

My website shop has now been updated with my latest artworks.

As a small art business I’d be ever so grateful if you gave me a wee hand by repost this post, it’ll help my paintings travel from Ireland & beyond.

Thanks ever so much.
Louise.
🇮🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌍✍️🎨
#september #gift #art

www.louisemcintoshartist.com

Anthropic AI Class Action: Important Information for Authors - The Authors Guild Earlier this summer, a federal court in California issued a major ruling in Bartz v. Anthropic, one of the copyright class action lawsuits involving AI. The court held that a trial should occur over whether Anthropic’s downloading of millions of books from […]

The Author's Guild is helping people sign up for the class action suit against Anthropic for pirating a whole ton of books. We don't know how this case will turn out, but if you're an author whose work may have been stolen, it's a good idea to get on the list.
authorsguild.org/news/anthrop...