Clan Destine Press Blog

Natalie Conyer and Atlin Merrick share thoughts on writing, in their She Said/She Said series, entries alternating between Improbable Press and Clan Destine Press. ATLIN: Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps! That advice is offered often by the privileged, to those with far fewer advantages. Except here's the thing: the phrase was originally coined as an indictment, it was meant to show that it's impossible to pull yourself up by your own feet. I feel it's the same with the absolutely bonkers advice of 'write what you know.' That advice has led to copious "literature" by white English professors...

A Clan Destine 25%-off Special on Inside the Law: 25 Years of True Crime Writing to celebrate what is going to be a huge couple of months for our very own True Crime author Vikki Petraitis   Vikki has been working for a year on her first podcast series with the amazing team at the award-winning, Aussie-produced Casefile: True Crime Podcast. Casefile’s internationally popular podcasts look at solved and unsolved real crimes from across the world. Listeners were so intrigued following their release of Case 80: Beth Barnard that Casefile asked Vikki to make a long-form podcast on the case....

Three new novels – Rose Carlyle’s The Girl in the Mirror, Sally Hepworth’s The Good Sister and Sonya Bates’ Inheritance of Secrets – all explore sisters who are variously sinister, secretive or strange, especially when they happen to be twins. The authors of these new books will reveal all in an online conversation with Maggie Baron, meanwhile we will reveal a little bit more right here. Twisted Twins, Twisted Sisters, Twisted Crimes The twins in The Girl in the Mirror, Rose’s debut crime novel, are identical and beautiful, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Once a crazy...

By Natalie Conyer Winning the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction for my first book, Present Tense, feels…it feels very…it's…I'm trying to think of the phrase! An out of body experience! That's it, that's what it feels like. Even though my impostor syndrome is up and running, I'm truly gobsmacked. When I was writing the book, I didn't give any thought to who was going to read it, I just wanted it to be authentic in terms of the South Africa I know, I didn't think of awards. Getting the award I feel incredibly thrilled, but I have...

By Stephen Johnson I’m finding out if change inspires or hampers creativity – and all because of a nasty little germ wreaking havoc around the world.Last year, I finally found my happy place to pen novels until the grim reaper sneaks up the stairs. It’s at the top of the home in Glendowie, Auckland. I call it a garret because and I can secretly dream of being in Paris. The family call it the attic. They have no sense of drama.From my desk, I’ve watched the Half Moon Bay ferries chug back and forth to beautiful Waiheke Island in the...