crime Archives -

‘Watching Her Without Me’

By Madeleine D'Este

On January 14, 2023

In Uncategorized

Go over to Dark Winter Literary magazine for a very short story of mine (a 3 minute read!).

‘Watching Her Without Me’ was inspired by stories of people who go missing by choice.

I also have exciting news bubbling away behind the scenes, so keep in touch for more news in 2023.

#50 – Cathi Stoler – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On November 25, 2018

In crime, interview, mystery, podcast, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 50 with Cathi Stoler – award-winning crime writer

“When I was younger I wanted to be a spy.”

Episode 50 – Cathi Stoler – Show Notes

Writing crime as a pantser
Not a plot spreadsheet but a character spreadsheet
Real dialogue and real-life crimes – identity theft, fraud, violent crime and how people are affected
Eavesdropping
Crime writing conferences in the USA – Malice Domestic, Bouchercon, International Thriller Writers Conference
Taking classes and getting your character’s details right
John LeCarre, Ian Fleming, Sue Grafton, Alison Gaylin, Meghan Abbott, Catriona McPherson
Technology, social change and crime writing
Bar None

“You’re not going to commit a crime but you like to read about it.”

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#45 – Elizabeth Spann Craig – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On September 16, 2018

In characters, crime, mystery, podcast, reading, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 45 with Elizabeth Spann Craig – cosy mystery writer & writing tip gatherer

“Don’t discount the elderly.”

Episode 45 – Elizabeth Spann Craig – Show Notes

Started off as a pantser
Understanding your genre’s patterns
Muscle memory after 26 books
Old fashioned puzzle mysteries – escape for the reader
Key theme – don’t discount the elderly
Set the bar the low
Twitterific Writing tips
Doubling down on production and reading more
Agatha Christie, MC Beaton, Anthony Horowitz
A reader’s suggestion inspired Cleaning is Murder
Traditional and independent publishing – getting rights back

“Set the bar low.”

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#39 – Alexandra Sokoloff – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On July 28, 2018

In crime, horror, interview, movies, podcast, thrillers, women in fiction, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 39 with Alexandra Sokoloff – thriller author & screenwriter

“You are directing a movie onto the page.”

Episode 39 – Alexandra Sokoloff – Show Notes

Good and evil and what good people can do
Screenwriters have to be plotters. Journey from impro to screenwriting
Milk
Exploration of violence against women using a female serial killer
Using screenwriting techniques to become better authors
Multi-task while appearing to have a social life
Taking your favourite movies and working out what the classic movies are doing: Silence of the Lambs, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Casablanca, When Harry Met Sally, The Hunger Games, The Wizard of Oz
Editors want a movie in their head
Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Denise Mina, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mo Hayder, Tana French, Val McDermid
Huntress/FBI series – to be read in order – like a binge watch TV experience
Hunger Moon is an unhappy read for Trump supporters

“If you’re going to talk about good and evil, you need to talk about people and what people do.”

“I do this with a total agenda of changing rape culture.”

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#37 – Emma Viskic – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On July 15, 2018

In crime, interview, podcast, reading, short story, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 37 with Emma Viskic – award-winning crime author

“I kept one word from the story. It was Commodore.”

Episode 37 – Emma Viskic – Show Notes

Plantser, vomit and polish
Writing at the extreme ends of the day
Belonging, communication and loss, deaf and indigenous characters. Exploration of themes throughout a series
Training wheels novels
Taking the first sentence from a novel chapter to build a short story
Short stories teach how to cut words, cut characters and have a clean line throughout
The difficulty of a crime short story
A 10 month unfinished vomit draft
Each book is written in a different way with different pressures; first book, second book and third book
Hilary Mantel, Peter Temple, JM Green
And Fire Came Down – scars and fire season

“Sending them to the farm to play with the other words.”

“There’s vomit and there’s polish. It’s a mess.”

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#30 – Angela Savage – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On May 13, 2018

In craft, historical fiction, interview, melbourne, music, mystery, podcast, reading, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 30 with Angela Savage – award winning writer & Director of Writers Victoria

“Good strong writing comes from using simple words in a compelling way”

Episode 30 – Angela Savage – Show Notes

Writing on the train and “the work of the couch”
Inspired by songwriters like Springsteen, Waits and Earl
Wine for writing like drinking when playing pool
South East Asia, reproductive health, kinship, culture and human nature
“Just get the story down”
Reading, study the craft, learning, playing with verbs, mentoring
Critical reading – underlining and making notes in books
Why crime fiction is so pleasurable for some readers
Overdoing the research in historical fiction
Inspired by Emma Viskic, Julie Koh, Barbara Kingsolver, Christos Tsiolkas
Deadlier – 100 of the best crime stories written by women
Daughter as sensitivity reader

“My writing was inspired by the fact no one wanted to hear my travel stories.”

“You need to know how it ends to know how it begins.”

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#20 – Caroline Mitchell – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On March 3, 2018

In crime, interview, mystery, thrillers, write through the roof, writers, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 20 with Caroline Mitchell – best selling crime & thriller writer

“I say ‘how could you not have ideas?’ Look around you.”

Episode 20 – Caroline Mitchell – Show Notes

Writing a synopsis and the hook before starting to write
Coffee, music and social media before a day’s writing
Dark themes, exploring the darker side of human nature and the ripple effects from crime. Nothing is black and white in the police.
Silent Victim is a story of grooming and a body buried in the backyard
Keep learning all the time, always push yourself
Dictation; first draft without touching the keyboard
Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons
Combination of her past experiences in the police along with fresh ideas
Pivoting to reach more readers
Madeleine’s tip – explorations in dictation

“If the gin comes out I’m not having a good day.”

“Dialogue is lot more natural when you dictate.”

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#12 – Oscar de Muriel – Write Through The Roof

By Madeleine D'Este

On January 6, 2018

In gothic, historical fiction, interview, paranormal, research, write through the roof, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.

Episode 12 with Oscar de Muriel – writer of Victorian murder mysteries

“It’s not sipping a glass of wine and staring out the window.”

Episode 12 – Oscar de Muriel – Show Notes

Fuelled by wine and cheese
Jurassic Park (the book) the first inspiration
Discipline
Spreadsheets
Being a chemist is very useful for murder mysteries
Isaac Asimov – The Black Widower’s Club and Lucky Starr series
Banshees, MacBeth and Bram Stoker
Not a whodunnit but a ‘who will do it’ – balancing reader’s expectations while trying something new
Madeleine’s tip – Text to Speech functions

“Thanks to Malbec for its contribution to this book”

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Tag: crime

‘Watching Her Without Me’

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