William Gibson next to Dan Brown I’ve presented around a hundred lectures on cyber security throughout the last year, while attending a variety of security conferences, roundtables and fireside chats. I like to use my bookcases as my background when doing remote sessions and these have proved popular with delegates. I always take audience questions … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 9
The NASA approach to writing I love a good pun and make no apology for it. One of my favourites is, I’m going to use the NASA approach to writing this novel and plan it. I have written in freefall (another space reference) and each morning just carried on writing without a plan, in the … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 7
Viruses The Kill Chain is the cybercrime thriller from Scotland’s newest crime writer, GJ Scobie, which will be published by Darkstroke on the 16th July 2022. This blog post is one in a series called Facts behind the Fiction, in which I take an aspect of the plot and provide factual background material, giving an … More The Kill Chain – Facts behind the Fiction Part 12
Worms The Kill Chain is the cybercrime thriller from Scotland’s newest writer, GJ Scobie, which is due to be published by Darkstroke on the 16th July 2022. This blog post is one in a series called Facts behind the Fiction, in which I take an aspect of the plot and provide factual background material, giving … More The Kill Chain – Facts behind the Fiction Part 11
Drafts I was thinking the other day about how many drafts I have written per novel. It seems there is no set number, but I have worked myself into a routine. The first draft is all about determining if I actually have a story. This draft is only ever read by me and the scenes … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 6
Writing in the company of strangers Pre-pandemic I did most of my writing on trains and in cafes. I have a study, and I do use it, but the majority of my work was done while commuting to and from work. Journey time one way was around fifty minutes and I would arrive a bit … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 5
Botnets The Kill Chain is the cybercrime thriller from Scotland’s newest writer, GJ Scobie, which is due to be published by Darkstroke on the 16th July 2022. This blog post is one in a series called Facts behind the Fiction, in which I take an aspect of the plot and provide factual background material, giving … More The Kill Chain – Facts behind the Fiction Part 10
Covert filming The Kill Chain is the cybercrime thriller from Scotland’s newest writer, GJ Scobie, which is due to be published by Darkstroke on the 16th July 2022. This blog post is one in a series called Facts behind the Fiction, in which I take an aspect of the plot and provide factual background material, … More The Kill Chain – Facts behind the Fiction Part 9
Writer’s Block I’ve been fortunate never to have experienced this. I recognise that some writers do, but it is something I haven’t had to deal with. I have days when I can’t be bothered. I have days when I can spend a couple of hours and only manage a few sentences, but I don’t stress … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 4
Sleepers The Kill Chain is the cybercrime thriller from Scotland’s newest writer, GJ Scobie, which is due to be published by Darkstroke on the 16th July 2022. This blog post is one in a series called Facts behind the Fiction, in which I take an aspect of the plot and provide factual background material, giving … More The Kill Chain – Facts behind the Fiction Part 8
The Fiction Factory 