Guest Post: John Mead

John Mead

John was born in the mid-fifties in Dagenham, London, on part of the largest council estate ever built, and was the first pupil from his local secondary modern school to attend university. He has now taken early retirement to write, having spent the first part of his life working in education and the public sector. He was the director of a college, a senior school inspector for a local authority, and was head of a unit for young people with physical and mental health needs. When he is not travelling, going to the theatre or the pub, he writes.

John is currently working on a seies of novels set in modern day London. These police procedurals examine the darker side of modern life in the East End of the city

Amazon author profile: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07B8SQ2ZH

Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17891273.John_Mead

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnMeadAuthor

Guest Blog Post – Rosie Writes…

A love of language.

It took me a while to realise that what I enjoy about writing is language. By which I do not mean grammar and punctuation – spits over left shoulder whilst making the sign to ward off the evil eye – although these play a part, but how words are combined to create a specific image in someones mind. It might be the description of a place or how a character looks, or how to convey an emotion: the atmosphere of a particular place, how a character feels. 

When I first started to write I would get caught up in plot lines and character development, even just working out a person’s name seemed to take up endless hours of my time. However, by the time I started to write Geraldine, the second book in my current series of crime novels, I had a process in place for dealing with all that and writing became fun. I suppose you might say I was focused on style.

I knew from the start, when writing Geraldine, that I wanted to write from multiple perspectives. Think of TV dramas, when they film a scene they rarely shoot it from the perspective of one character, the camera moves around, seeing different actors reactions and revealing different elements of the scene. Given that is how I see things playing out in my mind, it seems natural to me to write like that. This can, of course, give a dense feel to the scene but what I would hope is that readers will see this as richness and vibrancy. And, whilst it is not a bad thing to expect a degree of effort on the part of the reader to interpret things in their own way, to fully engage with the text, it is still necessary to achieve clarity — so the reader is not confused.

 Hence the need to focus on language, and in Geraldine this was particularly true. The plot revolves around the death of a cross-dresser, so immediately there are all the issues around the language of gender and sex. Not as straight forward as it might appear. It didn’t take much research to discover that crossing-dressing had little to do with sexual gratification, though it might. It doesn’t mean the cross-dresser is gay, nor that they identify as being a woman; though, again, in both cases it might. And, then, there are all the characters who will make assumptions, have limited understanding of the activity of cross-dressing, are prejudiced, or simply don’t care. 

While playing around with language to accommodate these differing viewpoints, it was also important not to forget that Geraldine is a crime story.  So, from the point of view of the police, who are investigating a crime, the question is how much of this really matters? However, what struck me, when I was researching the book – and cross-dressing in particular – was how identity is a very basic human motivator. How confusion over self-identity can be a stressor, can undermine self-worth, and put incredible strain on relationships. These feelings, if amplified in the wrong environment, could lead to violence and murder. So, an ideal plot line for a crime story.

John Mead

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Thanks John, that’s really interesting. John’s latest book, Coldharbour is available now.

Coldharbour

The Met Police’s Major Investigation Team East has its hands full: a rash of tit for tat gang related stabbings, a strangled housewife, the decomposed remains of a woman found in a ditch and more to come. Adding to their woes is their boss, Chief Inspector Matthew Merry, being distracted by his problems at home.

For Matthew’s wife, Kathy, her only concern is dealing with the aftermath of being drugged and raped by a co-worker. Will the trial of the man responsible be enough to give her the justice she demands. Or, as her therapist states, is it revenge she really desires. She doesn’t know. As her emotions see-saw from elation to depression, her only certainty is that her husband seems more concerned about his work than her.

And Matthew is only too aware of his failings both at home and work. But the police machine grinds on, seeking information and sifting evidence — justice is not their concern.

Purchase Links –

UK –  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coldharbour-John-Mead-ebook/dp/B08NF7VK8N

US – https://www.amazon.com/Coldharbour-John-Mead-ebook/dp/B08NF7VK8N